Blue Ridge Electric lineman Allen Huffman of Laurel Springs works to install one of the town's Christmas decorations last Tuesday. The decorations are usually put in place just prior to the Christmas parade, which is set for this Saturday, Nov. 30.

Parade planned for Saturday

The annual Sparta Christmas Parade is scheduled for this Saturday, Nov. 30, at 11 a.m.

Parade entries will be required to line up at Sparta Elementary School beginning at 10 a.m. Pre-registration is encouraged and those wishing to do so may call Barbara Lucier at 372-6135.

The theme of this year's parade is "Home for the Holidays."

In conjunction with the event will be the second-annual storefront/window decorating contest for local business owners and merchants along the Main Street corridor.

"The judging on the windows is going to be done at 9 a.m. on Saturday," said SRC President Sandy Rost. "We had some merchants who said they would need to work on their display on Friday evening, so we tried to give them all of the time that we could."

Contest entrants do not need to pre-register, instead, the contest judges will travel along Main Street on Saturday morning to choose the best decorated shops. Judges for the store front contest are Vickie Parlier, SRC design chair, and Susan Holloway, a local artist.

As for the parade itself, more than 50 organizations and individuals have already pre-registered and even more are expected prior to the actual event.

Rost said the parade should rival last year's outing for the amount of participation. Santa Claus will be returning this year to Farmer's Hardware for picture making after the parade from 12:30 p.m. until 3 p.m., said Rost.

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