Andrews – Santa and Mrs. Claus will spend Saturday evening downtown on an antique fire truck at the annual Magic on Main electric Christmas parade.
The parade will consist of 22 floats representing different clubs and organizations in the community. The floats must be adorned with lights to earn the right to ride along with Santa.
Instead of throwing candy out to the children, six chamber volunteers will walk through the crowds handing out pre-filled candy bags.
“It makes it safer, and this way all children will receive the same amount of candy,” said Nola Cooper, executive director of the Andrews Chamber of Commerce. She is excited about this year’s parade, saying, “In past years, our town Christmas tree has been a bit boring.”
The Andrews Garden Club – along with Lynnie Anderson, Terry Gribble, Nina Thompson and Janie Strahan – remedied that by decorating what Cooper calls “a beautiful tree,” which will be lit during the parade for Santa. Robert Hamilton of Sounds Good Electronics Inc. will serve as parade grand master and will play Christmas music as the floats pause at Locust and Main streets to be judged by “prominent leaders of our community,” Cooper said.
The parade will be broadcast on Facebook Live via WKRK’s page with Murphy Mayor-elect Tim Radford and Cherokee Scout Publisher & Editor David Brown serving as emcees, along with chamber board member Tobin Brogunier.
Cooper is prepared for a successful parade, saying, “If every child gets a bag of candy, everyone is safe and everyone is smiling,” then the Andrews chamber will have done its job well. The parade starts at 5:30 at Andrews First Baptist Church and will end at the Ingles parking lot, where Santa and Mrs. Claus will be available for pictures.