"So we woke up the morning of the hurricane, and we had about 62 boats and five docks, and when we went to bed that night, we had no boats and no docks," Dan Kelly told Community College Daily this summer. He was describing September 27, 2024, at Lake Hickory Pub & Marina on Limbaugh Lane.
Two winters later, that marina is hosting the lake's lighted Christmas boat parade on Saturday, December 12. The weeks before it are filled with Santa pontoon rides, Saturday music and an ugly sweater night. That December schedule exists because the Kellys made staying open through winter part of how the business rebuilt after Helene.
Eight Months Without Docks
Dan and Meagan Kelly bought the business and moved from Minnesota in March 2024. Six months later Helene left the pub and the buildings on land standing but wiped out the marina and the boats tied to it. The Kellys put the losses at $600,000 to $800,000.
Repairing the boat slips and the watercraft rental side would take eight months. So they leaned on what was still standing: the pub, an ice cream stand, and events like wine tastings, bourbon tastings, bingo and live music. That plan rested on a choice the previous owners had not made. According to Community College Daily's account, the earlier owners closed the business in winter, and the Kellys kept it open.
The rebuild got local help. The Small Business Center at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute in Hudson helped the couple find grants and loans. Meagan Kelly told the outlet that volunteers from the surrounding community helped rebuild the docks.
Today the marina's website lists the full set of services again, including pontoon, kayak and paddleboard rentals, a gas dock, a marina store and a dog-friendly patio. The events the Kellys built to get through the repairs are still on the calendar. In late fall, that calendar is most of what's happening on the lake.
The Calendar From Here to the Parade
The marina's posted weekly hours run Wednesday 4 to 8 p.m., Thursday 4 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to 9 p.m., and Sunday noon to 8 p.m. It's closed Monday and Tuesday. The website doesn't list separate winter hours. Between now and the parade, the event listings look like this.
| Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 20 | Plant Bingo | 6:30 p.m. at the marina |
| Saturdays through winter | Live music | Indoors or at The Landing, depending on weather |
| Sat., Nov. 28 | Santa's Christmas Cruises | 1 to 4 p.m.; Santa arrives by pontoon, and rides are booked through the marina's website |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Ugly Sweater Party | 5 to 9 p.m. |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Lighted Christmas Boat Parade: Bridge 2 Bridge | 5:45 p.m., with an after-party at the marina |
The Santa cruise is the one that needs planning ahead. The event listing says Santa "comes to the marina not with his sleigh but with his Pontoon boat," and families register for a ride through the marina's online booking.
The calendar has also grown since last year. In 2025 the marina held a single combined night on December 13, the "Christmas Boat Parade & Ugly Sweater Party." This year those are two separate Saturdays a week apart, so the season has an extra weekend.
Bridge to Bridge on December 12
The parade plan is simple. Decorated boats meet at the NC 127 bridge at 5:45 p.m. and head up Lake Hickory to the US 321 bridge, and the after-party follows at the marina at 6706 Limbaugh Lane. Hickory Buzz lists the parade from 5:45 to 7 p.m. It says last year's parade had 28 boats and that organizers hope to make this year's bigger.
Any boat owner can join. The invitation is to decorate a boat with Christmas lights and meet at the 127 bridge. Spectators can watch from shore, and route details and estimated viewing times will be posted closer to the date. The Hickory Buzz listing points readers to the marina's Facebook page for more information.
For a marina that ended September 27, 2024, with no boats and no docks, the parade shows how far it has come back. Community volunteers helped rebuild the docks, and on December 12 the after-party is at the same marina, on the pub side that kept the business going during repairs.
Watching From the Riverwalk, Before 7 p.m.
From shore, the best public spot near the parade's finish is the City of Hickory's Riverwalk. The trail runs about 2.3 miles through Geitner Park along the water and includes an overwater bridge with several lookout points across Lake Hickory. The City notes that once the North Carolina Department of Transportation finishes its US 321 improvements, the current northbound 321 bridge will be handed to Hickory for pedestrian use, which ties the Riverwalk to the bridge where the parade ends.
The bridge was new when Helene arrived. The Riverwalk held its ribbon-cutting on April 4, 2024. Architect Miguel Rosales designed the overwater bridge, and the City calls it the longest inverted Fink truss bridge in North America. This will be its third December.
Timing matters more than anything else for shore viewers. The Riverwalk keeps Rotary-Geitner Park's hours, which run 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. from November through February. The parade starts at 5:45 p.m. at the far end, and the Hickory Buzz listing runs it until 7 p.m., which is exactly when the bridge and trails close for the season. Anyone planning to watch from the overwater bridge should check the marina's posted viewing times against that closing time.
The City lists two parking options that work well for an evening visit.
- Rotary-Geitner Park, 2035 12th St Dr NW. One end of the raised Riverwalk trail starts here, and the overwater bridge is a walk from the lot. A fishing pier sits about 200 feet from the start of the trail.
- Hickory City Park, 1581 12th St Dr NW. From here, enter the Lake Hickory Trails system and follow the paved greenway to the Riverwalk and the overwater bridge. The City lists City Park's own hours as 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. all year, but the Riverwalk segment still follows the 7 p.m. winter closing.
The Riverwalk is for walking and biking, so fishing, swimming and diving from the overwater bridge aren't allowed. Bring a jacket and plan to watch from the railing.
A Full December on the Lake
Santa arrives by pontoon on November 28, the ugly sweater party is December 5, and the lighted parade runs bridge to bridge on December 12. Saturday music continues indoors when the weather turns. The Riverwalk gives people without a boat a public place to watch. All of it depends on a marina that lost its docks in a single night and kept its doors open through the winters that followed.
The parade starts at the NC 127 bridge at 5:45 p.m. on Saturday, December 12, and the Riverwalk's overwater bridge closes at 7.
If you're watching the boats go by from a spot on Lake Hickory you'd like to call home, or you're thinking about what your own lakefront property could bring, the principals at Kendall Real Estate know this shoreline and the lake communities around it well. Book your complimentary buyer or seller consultation, and we'll talk it through after the holidays or any time before.