How a 1976 Plan to Fill Honolulu Avenue Shops Still Runs the Montrose Christmas Parade

The first Montrose Christmas Parade marched down Honolulu Avenue in broad daylight. It was an afternoon event built around one man's Hollywood friends. MGM musical star Dennis Morgan started it in the early 1950s, and his grand marshals included Jackie Cooper and Jack Carson. The 2026 parade starts at 6:10 p.m. on Saturday, December 5. More than 130 community organizations, marching bands, drill teams and public safety agencies are expected to fill the same street after dark.

The difference between those two parades lies in who was behind them. Morgan's parade depended on Morgan, and it ended when he moved away. The parade that came back in 1976 was designed for the shops on Honolulu Avenue, and it is still running 50 years later. Most of the Montrose holiday season, from the November wine walk to the weekend trolley rides, is still built around that idea.

A Gift That Left With Its Giver

The Montrose Christmas Parade Association's history calls the original parade "Dennis Morgan's gift to the community," and notes that his birthday fell on December 20, just before Christmas. According to a 2006 Glendale News-Press report, Morgan lived in the Foothills area and established the parade in the mid-1950s. The association dates it to the early 1950s. Both accounts agree that it stopped after several years.

Local groups took that first version seriously while it lasted. Crescenta Valley Weekly retold a story that longtime parade volunteer Joe Pardo found in an old Ledger newspaper in the library archive. In 1956, the local Lions Club entered its traditional "Santa Claus Float," with a sleigh, Santa's house, reindeer and children waiting for St. Nick. That year's version won a special trophy from the Verdugo Hills Merchants Association. Even in the 1950s, a merchants' group was handing out the trophies.

The Revival Had a Business Reason

Frank Roberts, a Montrose Shopping Park merchant, brought the parade back in 1976. The association's history gives his reason directly:

"...to attract shoppers at the start of the Christmas shopping season to the unique and eclectic collection of shops, businesses and restaurants along Honolulu Avenue."

That reason is why the parade survived. A parade built to bring shoppers to a business district gives every business on the street a reason to keep it going, whoever happens to be in charge. The association credits the Montrose Chamber of Commerce, the Montrose Shopping Park Association and the City of Glendale for long-term support. It says the parade runs on hundreds of volunteers who staff and lead its committees. Roberts died on October 18, 2005, and that year's parade was dedicated to him. His parade kept going after him, and the December 5 parade is its 48th edition since the revival.

The way it is funded follows the same design. The 2026 entry applications describe the parade as a registered 501(c)(3) supported through donations. They also list entry fees for nonprofit, school and band entries, and sponsor and supporter tiers for for-profit entries. In 2014, Crescenta Valley Weekly named the same three sources of money: sponsorships, donations and entry fees. Morgan paid for his parade with star power. Today's parade is paid for by a wide base of local supporters.

The association bills it as the nation's oldest Christmas parade organized entirely by volunteers. It is also recognized as the City of Glendale's official Christmas parade. The official 2026 rules call it the 48th Annual Montrose~Glendale Christmas Parade.

The Season Built Around the Parade

Roberts used the parade to start the shopping season. Fifty years later, Honolulu Avenue has a whole run of events that follow the same plan. The Montrose Shopping Park and its merchants have announced this schedule:

Thanksgiving falls on November 26 this year, so the tree lighting lands on the evening after. Shop Montrose pitches the season as a chance to "leave the overcrowded malls and long lines behind," with the district's family-owned shops decorated for the holidays. That pitch is close to the one Roberts made in 1976.

Parade Day, Hour by Hour

The parade's schedule also centers on the shopping district. Floats stage at La Crescenta Avenue and Honolulu Avenue. The parade itself starts at Honolulu and Rosemont Avenue and heads east to Verdugo Road. The city calls Honolulu Avenue and Ocean View Boulevard the center of the parade and of the whole Montrose area. The closed area runs from Broadview Drive on the south to Florencita Avenue on the north, and from La Crescenta Avenue on the west to Montrose Avenue and Verdugo Road on the east.

From the parade association's traffic plan:

1. Noon: Market Street closes from Honolulu Avenue to the alley above Broadview, and no-parking rules take effect there.
2. 3 p.m.: Street closures and no-parking rules start across the whole parade area. Glendale city parking Lots 1, 2 and 7 close.
3. 5 p.m.: Orangedale closes after staying open until then for traffic in and out of Trader Joe's.
4. 6 p.m.: Southbound drivers on Montrose Avenue must turn left onto Waltonia or right onto Florencita. Westbound drivers on Verdugo Road must turn right onto Montrose Avenue heading north.
5. 6:10 p.m.: The parade steps off.

The city suggests parking in the city lots that stay open, on open side streets and in the surrounding neighborhoods. It also suggests arriving early, setting up chairs and a blanket, and having dinner at a Montrose restaurant. Even the official logistics send people to eat on Honolulu Avenue before the parade starts.

Two rules for spectators come from the parade's permit. Chairs and blankets may go out only on parade day. Pop-up tents are not allowed because of crowding on the sidewalks along the route. The rules for entrants are just as strict. Entries must carry a holiday theme and be approved by the association. Copyrighted characters need written permission first.

Who Rides This Year

The 2026 grand marshal is Mary Pinola, a longtime philanthropist and former Honorary Mayor. Outlook Newspapers reports that she founded the Mary Pinola/Crescenta Valley Chamber Education Fund in 1990. The fund has given more than $410,000 in grants to local schools and programs. She also served 30 years as development director for the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center and ran more than 25 Los Angeles Marathons to raise money for education.

"Mary has spent decades giving back to our community," association president Chris Waldheim told Outlook Newspapers. "That generosity of spirit represents everything the Montrose Christmas Parade stands for."

The 1950s parade picked movie stars as grand marshals. Choosing Pinola reflects the parade's later model, which rests on years of local volunteer work. Morgan's MGM ties have stayed part of the story, though. In 2006, the parade booked Mickey Rooney, another MGM contract actor from the studio era, as its star.

The association's history describes a Santa fly-by in a Glendale Police helicopter as a parade tradition. This year Santa is scheduled for a helicopter fly-by and will then come down Honolulu Avenue on a Glendale Fire Department truck. Units from the Glendale Police Department, the California Highway Patrol and the Montrose Search and Rescue Team have long marched as well. If you miss it in person, Charter Cable will air the parade during the holiday season. The full traffic plan and entry forms are on the Montrose Christmas Parade Association site.

If you own a character home a few blocks from the parade route and want to know how much its location and history are worth, G&C Properties knows these streets and is glad to talk it through. Let's make it personal: contact us to discuss your character home.