DECATUR -- Santa and Mrs. Claus made a naughty or nice checkup run on Decatur area residents Dec. 6, arriving in style aboard the Decatur Fire Department's two-year-old pumper truck during the Decatur Chamber of Commerce annual Christmas Parade.
This year's parade was organized by Taylor Fairchild and her team from the Grand Savings Bank branch in Decatur. Their efforts paid off in big dividends as the event saw more participation, resulting in one of the biggest parades in several years.
The Decatur High School band marched in its third parade of 2019, having participated in the Veterans Day and homecoming parades earlier this year. Along with the band, four floats, 30 vehicles of all types, a farm tractor and four horses drove or, in the case of the horses, trotted the one-mile parade route.
The lineup for this year's event started at 5:30 p.m. at the car wash on the corner of Third and Main Streets. By 5:50 p.m. the parade line stretched from Main Street up Third Street to the Kansas City Southern crossing. Leaving the track clear (a KCS coal train came through just before the start), the line continued from the corner of Third and Second Streets to City Park.
Meanwhile, a crowd began building along both sides of Main Street as parade revelers waited anxiously for the event to start.
At 6 p.m. Decatur police sirens pierced the calm evening as the first vehicles rounded the corner near the Decatur Depot.
The band led the parade, playing a medley of familiar holiday music, followed by the floats and long procession of vehicles.
As each parade participant passed by the crowds, the riders tossed out sweet candy treats. Of course, kids of all ages rushed out to gather as much of the candy as they could carry. The more resourceful ones had big plastic bags at their disposal.
The parade ended at Decatur City Hall, but the festivities were just getting started as Santa and Mrs. Claus stopped by the Grand Savings Bank main lobby to meet and greet kids and to hear their Christmas wishes and hand out bags of candy and other prizes.
With their mission accomplished, the Clauses returned to the North Pole to make preparation for their big Christmas delivery Dec. 24. In the wake of their visit, they left behind plenty of Christmas cheer to last the remainder of the season.
General News on 12/11/2019