Annual Christmas parade is Saturday

Santa will be ushering in the Christmas season this Saturday during Minden’s annual Christmas parade.

The parade will be at 6 p.m. in downtown Minden with lineup beginning at 3 p.m.

The parade will begin at the church and make the loop around the Webster Parish Courthouse and return to the church.

“The Minden Evening Lions Club is excited to bring the annual Christmas parade for the 35th year,” Jessica Lewis, parade coordinator, said. “This year, we have several new participants featuring local nonprofits, churches and local schools. The parade will begin with our grand marshal, Sandra Samuel, supporting Webster’s CASA office and will end with Santa.”

Tommy McMurray, secretary of the Minden Evening Lions Club, says there will be no space reservations. All entrants need to be there around the same time in order to get a space.

Parade entrants are asked not to dress up as Santa Claus as he will already be in the parade to kick off the Christmas season, Lewis said.

McMurray says the parade will be at night, and floats and vehicles will have some kind of lighting. All floats are encouraged to play Christmas music if possible.

For those who wish to throw candy or other trinkets, McMurray says walkers must be present.

“You must have adults walking on both sides of the float,” he said. “Instruct all your throwers to throw the candy way back, not in the street. Throw it back over the people’s head and over the sidewalk.”

If entrants are performing groups, such as a dance line or marching band, they will not be allowed to stop, he said. This will impede traffic, he added. If for any reason the parade does stop, throwers are asked to refrain from throwing candy or trinkets as a safety precaution.

Last year, roughly 50 to 60 entrants signed up to participate in the parade, he said.