59th annual Downtown Dyersburg Christmas Parade set for Nov. 30

The 59th annual Downtown Dyersburg Christmas Parade put on by Main Street Dyersburg will take place on Monday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. This year's theme is "Christmas through the eyes of a child".

Attending the parade will be Miss Tennessee, Stephanie Whittler, and the grand marshal is Danny Dedmon.

The parade will follow the annual route. The parade starts on West Market, turns left at Mill, turns left at Masonic, turns left at Church, turns right on Court, turns right on King and ends.

Lineup for floats will be on Lake Road between Market and Forrest at 5:45 p.m.

The bands will enter Cedar Street from South Main and line up behind the Dyersburg Police Department. All bands must be lined up by 6 p.m. The bands are requested to perform their parade show in front of the judging stand downtown. This is where the PA system will be so the public can hear the commentary.

Friends of the Library will be the official parade vendor offering hot chocolate and cookies. They will be located on the front steps of the library and will start serving before the parade begins.

Parade officials are saying the best thing for people attending downtown is to park off of the parade route and walk in and prepare to stand and get comfortable.

They also ask that parents please keep up with their children, saying it is easy to loose them in a crowd.

The Dyersburg/Dyer County Adult and Youth Leadership and Key Club will be doing the street work for the parade, but they also are asking for more volunteers.

"You don't have to be a seasoned volunteer to work in the Christmas Parade," said Steve Guttery, director of downtown development.

As always, there will be an industrial and commercial division and a civic and church division for the floats. There is no charge for entering non-commercial floats in the parade. Commercial entries other than floats are $50. Only "home built" floats will be eligible to compete for prizes, which will be $300 for first, $200 for second and $100 for third. Floats must be trailer-type units with no pickup or flatbed trucks permitted.

Santa Claus may not be used on any float or entry other than the official Santa float provided by the Downtown Dyersburg Development Association.

Judging is based on the following criteria:

1. How well the theme is carried out - 20 percent

2. Originality - 40 percent

3. Overall appearance - 40 percent

Entrants are asked to display their number to the announcers as they go by the stand so they will know who they are.

No four-wheelers or burnouts will be allowed.

Entry forms are available at the Lannom Center and registration deadline is Nov. 23. The rain date is will be Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m.

For the safety of the children in the audience, parade officials are asking that no candy or other items be thrown in the crowd. Entries may have someone walking beside the float passing out goodies to the children.

The anticipated cost of this year's parade is $5,300 and it is still not too late to donate.

"Your gift insured that we carry on the tradition of the finest parade in all of West Tennessee," said Guttery.

For more information on the parade or to volunteer or donate contact Steve Guttery at 731-285-3433 or Jan Jernigan at 731-288-3537.