Christmas parade planned Nov. 29
By COBY LaRUE
Staff
The annual Sparta Christmas Parade will be held Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. The theme of this year's event is "Christmas on the Mountain."
The grand marshal for this year's event is George Sheets, who will be accompanied by his wife Lois Sheets.
The Sparta Revitalization Committee sponsors the event annually. Promotions Committee Chair John Kilmartin said last week that the committee wants to honor Sheets for his many volunteer hours and personal contributions to the town.
"A lot of people don't realize how much George has done and how many volunteer efforts he takes part in," said Kilmartin.
Sheets is a Sparta Lions Club member, for many years he helped set up the public address system for the fairgrounds, he has used his business equipment to help hang Christmas decorations and other banners and decorations in town and has been involved in many other charitable works, said Kilmartin. "He's the type of citizen we can all be proud of," Kilmartin added.
Entries are urged to contact Barbara Lucier at 372-6135 to pre-register.
Prizes will be awarded to two floats in the parade—$50 for best depiction of theme and $50 for the ‘most creative' float.
The Alleghany High School Band will perform on the Alleghany Courthouse lawn after the parade. Santa Claus will also make an appearance that day and will be at the Courthouse until festivities end at around 4:30 p.m.
Merchants and other properties fronting along Main Street are encouraged to decorate their store fronts, lawns and homes.
To aid in the effort to make the downtown area more festive, lights have been placed on the Alleghany County Courthouse and on several buildings downtown, including on all the buildings from First Community Bank to the Alleghany Chamber of Commerce and from the Sparta ABC Store to Halsey Drug on the other side of the street.
"Through private donations, we've started stringing lights in the center of town and we will try to expand outward and add more buildings in coming years," said Kilmartin.
Anyone who would like to donate to the effort to place more lights downtown may call Lucier.
The new lights downtown will first be illuminated simultaneously with the lighting of the community Christmas tree on Friday, Nov. 28 at dusk, which will take place around 5:30 p.m. Santa Claus again will make an appearance on the Courthouse lawn that evening from 4:30 p.m. until the tree lighting.
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