Towns ready for holiday parades

By JUSTIN HARMON/Staff

One’s moving to the morning, another to the evening.
While Glade Spring’s annual Christmas parade is moving to the evening (see related story on this page), Abingdon is moving it’s Kiwanis Club parade from Friday night to late Saturday morning. The parade is scheduled for Dec. 5 at 11 a.m.
Damascus will be sticking with its regular schedule.
Damascus’ Christmas parade through town is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 6, at 3 p.m. Those who are participating should line up in front of the Subway between 2 and 2:30 p.m. After the parade, Santa and Mrs. Claus will greet kids at the town fire department. For more information, call the town hall at 475-3831.
Kiwanis President Jack White said in a press release that the Abingdon parade was changed for safety and monetary reasons. He also said comfort played a role in the decision, noting that parade watchers won’t be as likely to stare down freezing temperatures along the route.
Even with the change in plans and a lack of professional floats, Kiwanis Co-Chairs Bob Craig and George Strong said there’s going to be all types of local floats. On top of that, there will be several marching bands and marching groups, Shriners comedy, decorated vehicles and even a few horses. All in all, the release states that more than 60 units have registered for the annual march down Main Street and is expected to last for around two hours.
For more information about the Abingdon parade, visit http://www.abingdon.com or http://www.abingdonkiwanis.org.
In Glade Spring, the parade is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. According to the Glade Spring Volunteer Fire Department’s Web site, the parade will start from the Glade Spring Middle School and head down Maple Street and onto West Glade Street. The parade will end in the town square where the annual tree-lighting ceremony will be held and Santa will hand out treat bags.
Justin Harmon can be reached at 276-628-7101 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)