Mamas making holiday splash in Texas

Coeur d’Alene’s nationally known Red Hot Mamas are in Dallas helping with a benefit for the Children’s Health System.

While in Texas through Dec. 6, the group will appear on the Good Morning Dallas talk show. The Mamas will also perform their comedy show of “A Red Hot Mama Christmas Carol” for a large senior living community, and will be the featured performers in the Dallas Children’s Health Holiday Parade.

This parade is like no other in that all the preferred seating is reserved for children fighting illness and their families. Common sights along the route are kids grinning ear to ear sitting in wheelchairs, hooked to IV poles, sporting little bald heads, and held in parents’ arms.

“While at first thought, this may not evoke a pretty emotion, the absolute joy on those faces in the midst of their reality makes your heart burst wide open,” said producer Mikki Stevens. “It is so meaningful to be a small part of bringing such joy to these families.”

The Mamas’ parade performance will feature giant pink flamingoes attached to shopping carts with the Mamas dressed for Christmas in Santa hats, scarves and tutus.

The mission of Children’s Health since 1913 has always been to make life better for children. They are the seventh-largest pediatric health care provider in the country, and the only academically affiliated pediatric hospital in the area. Every December, the annual Dallas Children’s Health Holiday Parade marches through the streets of downtown Dallas to unwrap the magic of the holiday season.

Created in 1988 by The Adolphus Hotel and Children’s Health, the parade has kicked off the city’s holiday season ever since. The internationally acclaimed hotel and health care system wanted to give a gift to the citizens of Dallas for enabling both institutions to prosper.

Today, the Dallas Children’s Health Holiday Parade is one of the largest parades in the country, drawing a crowd of more than 400,000 spectators. In addition, the parade will be shown live and syndicated throughout the U.S. to more than 100 million homes across more than 350 TV stations.