John Amon’s MVL
Photo: MVL
If you ever have the pleasure of running into John Amon in Downtown Mooresville, you’ll know two things about him right away. One, he loves this town. And two, his cell phone never stops ringing because he and his family run The Insurance Center, a very independent small business that prides itself on personal service. John also heads the Mooresville Christmas Parade Committee, a small group of local volunteers who have put on the annual Mooresville Christmas Parade for the last 79 years.
John’s natural state of optimistic enthusiasm, along with his passion for local history, make him perfectly suited to pull off this yearly event for families in our community. Rain, shine, fog or heat wave, John’s motto is, “Parade Happens.” (Insert grin here)
Were you born and raised here?: Yes. Born in Chapel Hill… moved to Mooresville when I was three and a half. I went through the MGSD system, from the first Kindergarten class they had in 1974 through graduation in 1986.
Why is this a great place to call home?: “Well, it’s got a great sense of community. Everybody comes together when they need to. Yes, it has individualism. But when there’s a common need, everybody chips in, all over. And I think that’s one of the great things about Small Town America, and in particular, Mooresville.”
Your own business is community based too, isn’t it?: “Yes, we have a family insurance agency that started in 1976. We’ve been on Main Street for forty-four of the forty-eight years. And we enjoy being a part of this community. It’s been good to us, and we try and be good to it.”
What are your passion projects?: “I like to do Christmas events in Mooresville…It’s always one of the great times. I can remember, as a kid, helping out my father when he was with the Jaycees in the early seventies, with the Christmas parade. I can remember in the eighties we used to put Christmas decorations across Main street…You can’t do it anymore because of liability reasons, but that was always a fun night. We would start at one end…there would be town employees involved and volunteers, and you’d hang the lights across before the parade, then we’d all go to Pie in the Sky Pizza afterwards. You could see the decorations were up, but they would not turn on until after the parade on Tuesday before Thanksgiving. That’s how you knew it was Christmastime.
It’s one of the great events I remember from my childhood, so that’s why I like doing that. I also really miss when I was of age, we had the Jaycees… we were active and we raised a lot of things… Toys for Tots, and that type of thing for the community. It’s always great when you can give back and hopefully make things a little better for everybody.”
So you’ve been working on the parade in some capacity since you were a kid?: “My father would rope me in, with ‘Hey, wouldn’t this be fun?’ Basically I can remember working on the parade in some capacity since I was about the age of six. Parents have that tendency, sure, but that’s also what Mooresville was. It was multigenerational… families doing a lot of work on these things together. Still, if you see anyone from old Mooresville, they’re usually related to someone like a Mcneely, or a Caldwell, or a Mack... it’s sort of fun because everybody has always been doing this, for years.”
What does the parade do for people who live here?: “I think the parade is one of the largest events that brings everyone together. It’s a great common communicator, in essence. Everybody is always so busy, and we’re pulled in many different ways. But the parade is something where people come to see their children or grandchildren in it. If you just want something that’s inexpensive to have fun, you can do that. It just brings back memories, and memories are great. And the best part is, it doesn’t cost a thing.”
What’s your MVL, John?: “Well, it’s a meaningful, vibrant life. And I think that’s what the parade is. It’s a vibrant part of Mooresville, and for seventy-nine years it’s been going on. One year, there was a lot of snow and the floats couldn’t come in. So they got all the pickup trucks they could get, decorated them, and put people in the backs of the trucks and sent them down Main Street. The parade always has some sort of crazy thing, but it always happens…year in, and year out. And that’s what my meaningful vibrant life is, just being a part of something that has been going on for seventy-nine years strong…all volunteer, and always making memories.”
