Christmas parades planned for county
By Staff
Melissa Cason
Franklin County Times
Thanksgiving has once again come and gone and Christmas is only one month away. Communities in Franklin County are planning to usher the Christmas season in with their usual Christmas parades.
"It's like a Southern tradition," Executive Director for the county Chamber of Commerce, Lisa Stockton said. "Christmas parades seem to usher in the Christmas season."
Red Bay will kick off the parades this year on Monday, Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. while Vina's parade will be the next night on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 6 p.m. Russellville will have their Christmas parade on Thursday, Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. and Phil Campbell's parade will be held on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 5:30 p.m.
Stockton said that Chamber only organizes the Russellville parade but information about float submission and other entries should be available at Phil Campbell and Vina Town Halls and Red Bay City Hall.
"Usually, they will take entries up until the day before the parade," Stockton said. "And there is no entry fee for the parades."
She added that Franklin County residents have been anxious to learn about the details of this year's Christmas parades.
"Our phones have been ringing off the hooks with people wanting to know when parades will be," Stockton said. "I have always said that nobody likes a good parade as much as Franklin County."
Stockton said that she hopes to see more floats in this year's Christmas parades in Russellville and Phil Campbell.
"Red Bay and Vina still have a good many floats in their parades but Russellville and Phil Campbell seemed to have lost some floats over the years," Stockton said.
She added that cars and signs have taken the place of the floats.
"We had a few floats last year but I would love us to have more this year," Stockton said. "I encourage clubs, youth organizations and even businesses to help bring the floats back to Russellville's Christmas parade."
She added that Red Bay, Russellville, Phil Campbell and Vina all still award first, second and third place prizes for the best floats. For more information on your community's Christmas parade, contact your local town or city hall or call the Chamber at 332-1760.
