The Minden Evening Lions Club is seeking entrants for the 2015 Christmas parade.

The parade will be at 6 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 28, with line up beginning at First United Methodist Church in downtown Minden.

Jessica Lewis, event coordinator, says line up is at 3 p.m., and every entrant must have an application.

“They can have floats, auto vehicles or trucks, marching bands and others,” she said.

“Entrants can be clubs, girl scout troops; anybody can be in it if they fit into one of the categories on the application.”

Categories include floats, auto/truck, marching group, band, other.

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

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

Every entrant must fill out an application. If a group is signing up, then only one application needs to be filled out. For example, if an all-terrain vehicles club enters the parade, the club would only need one application.

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 horse riding clubs are allowed, but no other animals. ATVs will be allowed in the parade.

McMurray says the parade will be at night, and floats and vehicles will need to 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.

Entry deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 24. Applications may be picked up at the Joe LeBlanc Food Pantry or Gibsland Bank and Trust.