Chamber make plans for coming Christmas parade

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

— This year’s Christmas parade, planned for Dec. 11, will feature a float-decorating contest for school organizations and $200 in prize money for the best float.

Chamber of Commerce members came up with the idea for the contest and prize money as a way to get more school participation in the Christmas parade. Classes or school organizations such as the FFA or school band can compete and use the prize money to fund their projects.

Adam McGee and Will Lane volunteered to donate $50 each from the Decatur State Bank and Grand Insurance for the prize money, and the rest of the chamber voted to match the prize money.

Bobby King, Decatur School District’s special programs coordinator, said he would present the idea to teachers this week.

“I think we’ll have some takers, I don’t know how many, but I think we’ll have some sponsors that will be willing,” he said.

Chamber of Commerce members also voted that the theme of this year’s Christmas parade will be “Simply Christmas,” allowing participants to be creative and come up with their own theme.

The parade will be held at 6 p.m., Dec. 11.

Lineup will begin at 5:15 p.m. at city hall. Santa Clause will also be greeting children in the General Store before and after the parade.

Chamber of Commerce members are still looking for a solution on how to take Santa pictures. In the past, Gene and Norma Jean Wilmoth have taken Polaroid pictures of each child sitting on Santa’s lap, but Polaroid film is becoming much too expensive and hard to find. At last month’s Chamber of Commerce meeting, Lane suggested using a digital camera with a docking station, but after doing some research, he reported this month that it takes one and a half to two minutes to print each picture.

Although many parents bring their own cameras, some may not have cameras available and this may be their children’s only chance to take a picture with Santa, Chamber of Commerce president Royce Johnson said.

Several other suggestions were made and Chamber members decided to keep looking for an efficient solution.

The Chamber will also be holding a Christmas best-decorated home contest on Dec. 17. The winning family will be awarded with “Decatur Dollars” to be spent at any Decatur business.

The Chamber of Commerce will meet again at 5:30 p.m., Dec. 7, at the Gallery Café.

News, Pages 1 on 11/04/2009