Christmas parade set for Dec. 4

The Park Hills-Leadington Blankenship Insurance Christmas Parade will be held Dec. 4 starting at 6 p.m. at the Leadington Plaza in front of Hardee’s.

The celebration will start off with a special musical performance by Central Elementary students followed by the lighting of the Leadington Christmas tree.

The parade will begin at 7 p.m. at the plaza and will wind through Leadington and Park Hills to end at the Farmer’s Market in Park Hills where Mayor David Easter and officials will light the Park Hills Christmas tree. The Central Swing Choir will also perform at the market. Santa and Mrs. Claus will meet with children and there will be additional performances, activities, hot cocoa and more.

The chamber is offering first, second and third place prizes and trophies provided by the parade’s sponsor for the best parade floats.

This year’s theme is “A Disney Christmas.” Entrants are encouraged to use their imagination to create a float that displays their favorite Disney movie.

Duplicate movie themes will be discouraged. Each entry must be decorated accordingly to be considered for the competition.

Entries may not include a living Santa Claus. The chamber reserves the right to host Santa and Mrs. Claus as the parade’s grand marshals.

Anybody who is interested in signing up to be a booth vendor at the Farmer’s Market can do so at the chamber’s office at 12 Municipal Dr. in Park Hills. There are only four vendor spots left at the market. There is no fee for chamber investors to host a both space other than the cost of supplies. Non-chamber investors will incur a fee of $10 per booth space.

There are currently six Farmer’s Market vendors already registered including the Park Hills-Leadington Chamber of Commerce, Belgrade State Bank, Charming Memories, First Bank, Park Hills Lion’s Club and Reese Financial Group, Bill Skaggs Financial Advisor. All booths must be holiday-themed and have something of interest for children.

There is also a $10 entry fee to participate in the parade. The best decorated entry will be awarded the “Blankenship Insurance Championship Trophy,” to keep along with a $100 cash prize and a Blankenship Insurance gift basket. Also, $75 will be awarded to the second place float, and $50 for the third place entry.

The deadline for entries is Monday. A map of the parade route and lineup will be emailed to each parade participant by Dec. 3.

All participants must be in line no later than 6:30 p.m. at the Leadington plaza. Entrants are encouraged to ride rather than walk due to the distance of the parade.

There is plenty of space left to be a parade participant. Those registered so far include: Blankenship Insurance with the theme “Frozen,” Belgrade State Bank has a “Toy Story” theme, First State Community Bank will also have a “Frozen” theme, Hefner Furniture and Appliance will have a “Beauty and the Beast” theme, Hunt’s Dairy Bar with the theme “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” Park Hills Lions Club had “The Lion King” theme, Pharmax Pharmacy with a “Snow White” theme, Upward Smiles has a “101 Dalmatians” theme, Parkland Health Mart Pharmacy and the Central R-3 Marching Band will be participating in the parade.

There are a few rules and regulations for parade participants. Contact the Park Hill-Leadington Chamber of Commerce Office at 573-431-1051 for more information.

The Park Hills-Leadington Chamber of Commerce is hosting the”Hefner Furniture Christmas Parade” on Dec. 3 beginning at 6 p.m.

Korey Johnson is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-518-3616 or Kjohnson@dailyjournalonline.com