BILLINGS Easter might not be the most obvious holiday for a parade, but Forsyth is aiming to change that. See the video for this story below: Forsyth hosts first-ever Easter parade to celebrate Holy WeekThe small town celebrate d a new tradition with its inaugural Easter Holy Week Parade. Families lined Main Street on Saturday afternoon to watch the procession centered on the religious story of Easter commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Holy Week commemorates the seven days leading up to the holiday, including Palm Sunday and Good Friday. When people came, we waved and yelled, 'Happy Easter!'" said participant Chikodi Derricks. "Easter is a time of giving."The parade was founded by Dori and Mark Umfleet. Mark is the pastor of The Point Wesleyan Church and Dori is the church's daycare director. They said they wanted to bring a public, biblical celebration of Easter to their rural community. My brother lives down in Florida and they did Easter parades where the churches would get together and do the books of the Bible, and I thought, 'Well, for rural, what would that look like?' So, we thought we'd do something simple, said Dori. "Just trying to return the focus of Easter to the cross, to the empty tomb," added Mark. The parade consisted of two floats, a classic car, a fire truck, and two police vehicles. While small in size, the mighty showing did not disappoint the organizers. "A very small parade, but hey, that means it's going to be on people's minds and in the conversation for longer. If it was an average parade, the conversation would have ended right away. But the fact that it's so small, people are like, 'Did you see that small parade? I've never been to that short of a parade.' At least that's my hope," joked Mark. Concordia Lutheran Church was another participant in the procession, featuring children singing during the parade while dressed as biblical characters. "We're in a Sunday school class, and there's this parade, so our parents thought we could go on the floats and dress up," said participant Josephine Anna Derricks. I'm Mary Magdalene. I just like this costume because I like velvet and it's pretty.""I am an angel," added Hope Wiggins. "I like the wings. That's what I like about being an angel."For the Umfleets, its about more than a holiday but is about their faith, purpose, and community.The importance is that Jesus is alive. This is the pivotal point of history, of man's relationship with God, was Jesus coming to live our life, walking our shoes, and then dying on the cross for us, and then rise again," said Mark. "I mean, that's the point, is that our Lord, our Savior, is alive. He's not in the tomb, so that's the significance. While the event was small, the Umfleets hope it left a big impression and plan to bring it back next year with even more additions. The more the churches can work together, the better off we are for the community, said Mark. "Through Christ, we have hope. ...read more read less