It seems rain, snow or even a pandemic will not stop a nearly 100-year-old Christmas tradition in Tulsa, OK.

As Vice President of American Waste Control (AWC), Paul Ross leads the day-to-day operations of AWC’s fleet of 185 trucks, as well as playing a key role in the company’s recycling initiatives and renewable-energy landfill. He is also one of this year’s Waste360 40 Under 40 winners and serves as president of the board for the Tulsa Christmas Parade, a long-running and beloved community event.

Waste360 recently had the chance to talk with Ross about this year’s unique parade, AWC’s involvement in it and more. (Plus, he shared some great photos of the 2020 Tulsa Christmas Parade!)
Waste360: Can you tell us a little about the Tulsa Christmas Parade?

Ross: Tulsa Christmas Parade is a 94-year-old tradition for our community. It has continued despite wars, economic challenges — and now a pandemic — and it’s our hope to continue the tradition for another 94 years. 

Waste360: What is the importance of AWC’s involvement in the parade over the years? 

Ross: The owner of our company, Kenny Burkett, is a huge Christmas fan, and at AWC we take very seriously that we have the opportunity to bring the spirit of Christmas to Tulsa.

In 2015, our company formed a non-profit 501(c)(3) for the purpose of overseeing the parade and raising money to help veterans. Every year Tulsa Christmas Parade partners with another non-profit, Soldier’s Wish, and at the beginning of the parade grants a wish to a military family who has served our country so well.

AWC’s goals for the parade are: to continue the longstanding tradition of bringing the community together to celebrate Christmas, and also to benefit the family of a military serviceperson or veteran from the funds raised for the parade. 

As a company, our involvement in the parade is critical – we have 250 employees, and year after year our employees help in the development of the floats and parade entries. Our parade director, Jessica Gullo, is also an AWC employee and author of the book, Images of America: Tulsa Christmas Parade. Additionally, our company engineer, Wayne McCoy, makes our “self-propelled” floats that are used and custom-decorated every year.

Waste360: Due to COVID-19, this year’s parade is still happening — in a “drive-through” format. How did that plan evolve? 

Ross: Special thanks goes to our Parade Director, Jessica, for this idea. We are an award-winning parade, so the pressure was on! In 2019, we received the IFEA/Haas & Wilkerson Gold Grand Pinnacle Award for being a top event in the world—so we knew we had to do something to make this year’s event happen. 

Kenny is one of the most innovative minds in the waste and recycling space — so when you put Jessica and Kenny onto something, they’re going to come up with something great. Despite the parade being a drive-through format, we have so many exciting things planned. For instance, we’ve erected a drive-through tunnel over a portion of the historical route, to start off the parade with a grand-arch entry; something truly unique for parade-goers to enjoy driving through!  We have floats, other entries, music groups and giant helium balloons that are six-to-seven stories tall or more. This year will certainly look different with the drive-through format, but our imagination went wild, and we hope everyone has a great memory of the 2020 Tulsa Christmas Parade.

Waste360: 2020 has been a rough year for many communities, and this parade is sure to be a big bright spot in the community. Do you anticipate the same level of participation and interest as usual?

Ross: We anticipate great participation and attendance in terms of cars and families driving through, but because this is our first year to do a drive-through event we are really excited to see the level of participation. Since everyone will be safe and warm in the comfort of their own vehicles, we really except a great turnout!

Waste360: What role will AWC play in this year's parade route; can you give us any hints as to what kind of float and/or decorated truck attendees might see from the company this year? 

Ross: AWC always has a strong display of trucks represented with a full custom wrap provided by Route 66 Wraps and Signs. In addition to representing our fleet, we have constructed our very own “self-propelled” one-hundred-foot-long Christmas Train, which is a site to behold! It has a locomotive on the front and two passenger cars as well. We believe it’s going to be a crowd favorite. But one of our most loved pieces of the Christmas Parade is the Mr. Murph helium balloon that is six-stories tall. Mr. Murph is our recycling mascot for our MRF recycling plant, and kids love him!

Waste360: Do you have a special holiday/Christmas wish for your community/team this year that you’d like to share?

Ross: From the bottom of our heart – Kenny and I want to wish our family of employees a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And a big thank you and Merry Christmas to the whole team at Waste360 too. Can’t wait to see you all at WasteExpo in 2021!