The annual Woodbury Lions Club Christmas Parade will be Saturday, December 6, 2014 beginning at noon. The parade is held every year on the first Saturday of December and features a visit from the jolly old elf himself, St. Nick.
Parade Chairman Danny Miller cites the efforts of the entire community in making the parade such a huge success. "The entire county turns out for the parade," says Miller, "either to be in it, or to watch and be immersed in the Christmas spirit. The parade really brings the Christmas spirit to town and reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas. We thank everyone in advance for their hard work in making our parade a great Cannon County Christmas tradition!"
There will be a few changes in the line-up procedures this year, in an effort to make the parade flow better, safer and easier to broadcast and report on by local media outlets. Chairman Miller stated that the Cannon Courier, DTC Communications and WBRY have all supported the parade amazingly over the years. This year, all parade entries will be asked to pre-register and get an entry number so that we can provide a line up list for the media folks to better report on the parade. This will also give credit where it is due for all of the hard work that goes into the floats, vehicles, and other entries in the parade. There will still be NO entry fee for participating in the parade; as our goal in Woodbury is to have fun and get everyone in the Christmas spirit. Entry forms are available at these locations and please mail, fax or return in person to either the Head Start Office (Lion Eva Woodlee 563-5852) located in the Community Center or the University of Tennessee Extension Office ( Bruce Steelman 615-563-2554 office, 615-563-1285 fax), and both of these organizations are located on Lehman street.
Parade participants will also be asked to line up a little differently this year in an effort to ease risk of injury and lesson traffic snags. Each group will have an assembly point and a highly visible Lions Club member to insure that everyone has an appropriately located registration number and gets placed in the appropriate place in the parade to maximize your exposure:
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NO ONE will assemble on the shoulder of West Adams Street or at the office of Middle Tennessee Electric Co-Op, as in the past.
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Mules and their riders/wagons, as is customary, will assemble at the residence of Lion Bill Smith on Main Street.
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Horses and their riders/wagons will assemble at the Fairgrounds behind the Ag Extension Office.
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Floats and marching entries will assemble in the parking lot at the Woodbury Grammar School.
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Queens & Kings, Princesses and Princes, and other vehicles shall assemble on the road that circle behind the Community Center and in front of the Woodbury Lions Club Building.
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Emergency Response vehicles will muster along Annie Cox Road next to Woodbury Grammar School. They will line up nearest to Adams Street facing south initially, and turning right onto Adams Street to enter the parade.
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Reminder, due to Tennessee legal and insurance issues, and in the interest of safety, 4-wheelers will NOT be allowed in the parade.
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Another reminder: We know that everyone loves Santa Claus, but since the jolly old elf is coming a long way to make a special appearance, we ask that there be no "look-alikes" in the parade. This makes it easier for all of the kids waiting eagerly on the roadside to know which the real Santa is.
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One more: The Lions Clubs primary focus is sight and hearing projects, as requested of them by Helen Keller. We know everyone loves the candy, but it would be tragic for someone to have an eye injury that could cost them their sight because someone threw candy wrong. Please make efforts to hand out candy directly to those along the route if possible, but if you must throw it from your float, please be careful.
If you are in doubt about where you should gather before the parade, please contact Cliff Swoape at 615-563-4900. The Woodbury Lions Club is honored to host such a grand event and is grateful for the support of everyone in Cannon County. Please get your entry forms submitted, your entries prepared, and join us on December 6th for a fun time.
You can also join us Saturday morning for the Woodbury Lions Club Pancake Breakfast from 7 AM until 10 AM for all you can eat pancakes and sausage for $6 or $5 in advance. Santa will be making a special appearance for photo's during the pancake breakfast from 8 AM to 10 AM.
Tour of Home tickets and maps of featured stops will be available during the Pancake Breakfast and beginning at 3:30 PM at the University of Tennessee Extension Office on Lehman St. at a cost of $7.00 per ticket. Merry Christmas, from the Woodbury Lions Club!!!!