Volume 8, Issue 4 - Winter Edition | 2024

Fort Mill's Christmas Parade Tradition

This year marks the 77th annual Christmas parade in Fort Mill. The Christmas parade first began in 1947 and was touted as a big success in the Fort Mill Times. Read about the first Christmas parade below:

"Approximately 1,500 people, what has been described by many as the largest crowd that has ever assembled for any cause in Fort Mill, lined the streets Tuesday evening to watch Fort Mill's first Christmas parade.* The procession, consisting of a score entries, assembled on White Street near the city limits. It moved slowly down this busy street into Main and proceeded to the head of Main Street - its object a giant circle centered by a large Christmas tree.

As the parade approached Main Street the vari-colored Christmas lights were flashed on and the big tree was illuminated with hundreds of lights. Leading the parade was Chief of Police C. E. Mize on horseback, and a police motorcycle escort. Following were the Rock Hill school band, a number of interesting floats and other entries.

Santa Claus was riding in a self propelled sleigh near the rear of the procession. He was greeted enthusiastically as he sought to pass out gifts 'neath the big tree. Also riding in the parade were Mayor Luther G. Patterson, who was in the car with Miss Lena Jo Sutton, "Miss Fort Mill," Little Miss Betty Dunlap, wearing the crown of "Little Miss Fort Mill" was also in the procession. Miss Sutton is the daughter of Mr. And Mrs. A. C. Sutton, and Betty Dunlap is the daughter of Mrs. Elizabeth McKibben Dunlap.

As Santa Claus approached his destination at the top of the town, the big crowd swarmed out into Main Street and converged on the spot. The plan had been to keep the roped-off circle around the tree free of people, but the eager crowd filled the circle and adjoining cacant lot completely, and overflowed into Main, Springs and Tom Hall Streets. The passing out of the 800 bags of fruits, nuts and candies by Santa and an equal number of cups of ice cream by a Foremost Daries truck was delayed for almost an hour because the crowd would not clear the circle and form an orderly line.

President Thomas K. Gaither of the Fort Mill Junior Chamber of Commerce, which organization sponsored the parade and free goodies stated that the crowd exceeded by far their expectations. Much favorable comment has been voiced locally of the Jaycees and their perseverance in giving Fort Mill a first class Christmas Parade." - Fort Mill Times, December 18, 1947

*In fact, it is reported that an estimated 2,500 people attended the services for Tom Hall and Eli Bailes in Confederate Park in March 1921. - The Fort Mill Times, March 31, 1921

PARTNER EVENTS

Miracle on Main Street

Join the Downtown Co-Op and celebrate Christmas at our first Miracle on Main Street!  Think… pictures with Mr. and Mrs. Claus, hot cocoa, a life size gingerbread village, Santa’s workshop, eggnog, wassail, caroling, all among a flurry!

Saturday, December 7

4:00 - 9:00 PM

J. B. Mills, Fort Mill’s Weatherman

With winter upon us, the minds of many begin to daydream about the possibility of seeing some snow. In the past, snow days meant a day off from school filled with hours of building snowmen, having snowball fights with the neighborhood gang, and warming up with a steaming mug of hot chocolate. In reality, Fort Mill has not seen a significant snow fall in the last several years that lasts longer than a day. One of our last major snowstorms occurred twenty years ago in 2004 when the Fort Mill and Rock Hill areas reported 17-18 inches of snowfall during a 24-hour period. Unfortunately, this winter does not look promising as local meteorologists are predicting a wet winter with mild temperatures, resulting in little to no snow. This author, however, has decided to take another approach to predicting Fort Mill’s snow fall for 2025. It is based on the tried and “sometimes” true method used by one of Fort Mill’s most prominent past residents. 

John Barron Mills, more commonly known as J. B. Mills, was a native of Fort Mill who made many contributions to the development of our town by serving on both the town council and school board, being elected the president of the Lions Club, serving as a deacon in his church, and being both organizer and player on several local softball teams. Besides his civic contributions, J. B. contributed to the commerce of Fort Mill by opening up a foodstuffs store on Main Street in 1928 known as Mills Self Service. This store eventually evolved into Mills Hardware until it was destroyed by a fire in 1947. He continued in the hardware business by reopening a new store on White Street, where he worked until he sold it in 1969. Mills was a fixture in his store where he not only worked the cash register but where he often handed out advice to his customers.

Besides his reputation as a fine Fort Mill citizen, J.B. Mills was also known for another unique contribution to the town. He served as the towns “medicine man” due to his ability to forecast the number of snowfalls each winter. His predictions were based on the number of fogs that occurred during the month of August. Roughly speaking, one fog equaled one snow fall and the density of the fog regulated the depth of the snow. Mills did this for many years with many of his predictions posted in the newspaper during the 1960s through the 1980s. In 1972, he self-declared that his record of accuracy was far superior than the U. S. Weather Service. He was so confident in his forecasts that if he predicted just a light snowfall for the winter, he refused to order sleds or snow shovels for his store.

Mills had such a following that people, even those living outside of Fort Mill, waited for his predictions with great anticipation. In the early 1970s, one man, who lived in Charlotte, called the editor of the Fort Mill Times and stated, “I’m planning to take a trip for Christmas and I don’t want to get caught in a snowstorm. What does that old man down there say about the weather during the holidays?”  

Mills’ ability as a snow forecaster was even the subject of a poem written by A. O. Jones in 1971. Entitled J. B. Our Weather Prophet, the poem was shared in the Fort Mill Times and begins,

Come, my dear friends, draw near,

           A Story about Snow I want you to hear.

           A forecast by J. B., our local weatherman,

           Who tells in advance, Nature’s snow plan.

Despite his local fame, critics of his technique often challenged his predictions. In 1973, Mills stated that he had seen eight fogs during August so Fort Mill was to expect four big snowfalls and four little ones. One of his detractors commented in the Fort Mill Times that Mills did not know how to count because he had seen over ten fogs in August, while another man reported he had seen twenty-five fogs. Mills response in the paper was, “That’s because you and the man don’t know the difference between fogs and smog. I have certain rules I go by in my count. The four big fogs were all on consecutive days.” When the man asked if that meant they would see snowfall for four consecutive days, Mills cleverly responded, “I’m not sure what it means right now, but I’ll think of something.”

While Mills prided himself in the accuracy of his forecasts and his ability to fend off faultfinders, there were times when he completely missed his predictions. When asked why his snowfall estimates were off in March of 1969, Mills responded to a reporter, “I’m not going to forecast anymore this year. These astronauts have the atmosphere so messed up that it’s impossible to tell what might happen.”

J.B. Mills was a much beloved citizen of Fort Mill and whether you were a critic or a supporter of his snow predictions, they are a part of Fort Mill’s history.  Although we no longer have J. B. Mills to give us his yearly snow forecast, this writer decided in August, that in honor of J. B. Mills, the fogs in August would be counted. Only one light fog was noted which according to Mills, means that Fort Mill should see one light snowfall…unless, of course, it was smog.    

Full Article

Susan Andrews

FMHM History Research Team

Now Available in the Museum Gift Shop!

The 2024 Fort Mill History Museum Ornament is here!

Stop by the museum to purchase our beautiful new Unity Presbyterian Church ornament.

$20

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