JACKSON PARADE IS SATURDAY

JACKSON -- A Christmas tradition that dates back four decades or more continues this weekend, when the annual Jackson Jaycee Christmas Parade winds through the uptown business district.

The parade will form at 12:30 Saturday afternoon at the intersection of South High and Madison streets.

At 1:30 p.m., parade marshal Leonard Sander will lead the parade north on High Street, where it will turn west on Main and proceed to Farmington, where it will disband.

"It should be one of the largest Christmas parades in Jackson in six to seven years," said Jackson Jaycee and parade co-chairman, Jeff McClanahan. "We have nearly 80 units already registered, including local civic groups, Boy Scout and Girl Scout units, and area businesses."

Music for the parade will be provided by the Jackson, Meadow Heights, Oak Ridge, and Puxico high school bands.

Highlighting this year's parade is the arrival of Santa, who will ride in his sleigh atop a float.

McClanahan said that more than half of the parade units will be decorated floats.

"The theme of this year's Christmas parade is `Christmas 2000,' reflecting what Christmas may be like at the beginning of the new century," he said.

There will be prizes awarded for the best floats and displays in the parade. McClanahan said two $100 cash awards were donated by the Jackson Jaycees and Capital Bank. Three $50 prizes were donated by the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, Jackson Merchants Association and Boatmen's Bank.

"We urge everyone, young and old, to come to Jackson Saturday to see the parade," McClanahan said. "It will be a lot of fun.

"During the day, Jackson stores will have special sales going on. In addition, all of the Christmas decorations and lights will be on at courthouse square, and the Nativity scene will also be on display near the courthouse," he added.

McClanahan said parade entries will be accepted until noon Friday at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce office at the corner of West Main and Hope Street. Organizations that would like to participate should contact the chamber office at 243-8131.

According to Missourian records, the Jackson Parade might be the area's oldest Christmas parade still running. Newspaper records indicate Christmas parades were held in Jackson as far back December 1954. It was sponsored by Jackson merchants until the Jackson Jaycees took it over in the early 1980s.

The only other community in the area that still has an annual Christmas parade is Chaffee. The Chaffee Christmas Parade, sponsored by the Chaffee Lions Club and Chamber of Commerce, will be Saturday, Dec. 12, starting at 2 p.m.

Cape Girardeau used to have nighttime Christmas parades that later were changed to the afternoon. The parade apparently was discontinued in the mid-to-late 1950s.

According to Missourian records, the "Salute to Santa" nighttime Christmas parade was held in Cape on Dec. 8, 1952, and the Cape Girardeau Golden Troopers headed the annual Santa Claus Night Parade two years later. According to the newspaper account, "large crowds" witnessed the arrival of Santa that night.