MURRIETA - Light gusts of chilly wind swept crackling leaves to and fro along Kalmia Street. The parade of Boy Scout troops, church groups and local businesses swept down Washington Street. And with them, the Christmas season swept into downtown Murrieta.

It was Murrieta's second annual holiday parade, and it appeared to have gained a bit of momentum since last year. More than 300 participants pushed, pulled or otherwise escorted carts they had decorated with Christmas trees, a variety of cartoon characters and, in one case, a Nativity scene and a miniature church. More than 1,000 spectators converged on the half-mile stretch of Washington Avenue in Murrieta's Historic Downtown district.

A few minutes before 6 p.m., the first of the carts rolled out of the Murrieta Senior Center's parking lot and down Kalmia toward Washington. Near the head of the parade, a dozen seven- and eight-year-old girls from Brownie Troop 837 launched into "The Twelve Days of Christmas," handbells jingling.

As they rounded the corner onto Washington, a giant glowworm and Garfield the cat drifted up out of a parking lot into the air above Kalmia. About 20 red-shirted employees of Joannie's Cantina and 20 from Calvary Chapel Murrieta, wearing grey sweatshirts, tugged at the lines to keep the balloons from floating away. Up ahead, a power line spanned the street, and the crews tugged Garfield and the glowworm along the pavement, clearing the line.

"We are goooood," a voice called out. And then a moment later: "Uh-oh! We've got a few more of them."

They cleared the second and third cables without incident.

Garrett Ennemoser, 2, who was sitting on his father's shoulders a block down on Washington, was glad they did.

"That! Bee!" he exclaimed as the glowworm floated toward him.

"Yup, that's the bee," Mark Ennemoser called back.

"Bee!" Garrett said after the balloon passed. "Bee."

"Did you like the bee?" his father asked him a minute later. Garrett didn't answer. His eyes were glued to a group of horses and riders who had pulled up.

The two local high schools, Vista Murrieta and Murrieta Valley, fielded marching bands, who drummed out a mix of Christian hymns and secular tunes. A group of engineering students from Murrieta Valley sent two contraptions rolling down the street, including one whose motion sent elves swinging back and forth across the sides of a Christmas tree.

Behind the elves, a six-foot polar bear followed on a cart, flanked by Tigger and Winnie the Pooh dolls.

"Beary! Over here!" called Kristal Zepede, who was lining the street with her Brownie troop. Pooh-Bear was her favorite, she said.

Her friend, Rachel Jones, liked Frosty the Snowman the best. She got to see at least four of them, played by members of Calvary Chapel.

"Bye, Pooh-Bear," Kristal said as the cart crept out of the downtown district and into the night.

Contact staff writer Chris Bagley at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2615, or cbagley@californian.com.