Bowling Green’s biggest holiday parade yet will roll through downtown Saturday morning — just a day after the lighting of the community Christmas tree.
A record 133 units — including floats, bands and more — will begin filing down Main Street at 10 a.m.
That’s 20 more groups than ever before, according to Jennifer Ruhe, executive director of the chamber of commerce.
And the percent of floats has gone up, too, Ruhe said. “A lot of groups who just walked or drove a pickup have floats now.”
Santa himself is also getting an upgrade.
Whereas he used to ride in on a horse-drawn carriage, now he gets to bring his whole toy shop along on a flat-bed semi, sponsored by Home Depot.
Though the parade is on Saturday, festivities start Friday night, with the annual lighting of the Christmas tree in front of the Wood County Public Library. Bowling Green High School’s Madrigal Choir will sing before mayor John Quinn lights the tree at 6:30 p.m. “It’s the perfect opportunity to get people into the Christmas spirit,” Ruhe said.
Bowling Green is getting into the Christmas spirit early — before Thanksgiving. Impending cold weather causes the events to start so long before Dec. 25, according to Ruhe.
“The later you get, the more risk you run of having bad weather,” she said. “Parents don’t want to have the little ones out if it’s going to be zero degrees outside.”
The timing of the events also catches people before their schedules get crammed with other holiday activities.
“Once you get past Thanksgiving, people are so busy shopping,” she said. “Right now, people are still in their normal routine.
Normal driving, however, will be postponed. Roads must be closed to accommodate the dozens of floats, cars and bands that will fill the streets. The section of Main Street between Poe and Napoleon Roads will be closed Saturday from about 9:50 a.m. till noon. Some side streets will also be blocked.
“It’ll all open the minute the parade is over,” she said.
On Friday, a portion of West Court Street will also be closed from 6:15 p.m. till the community tree lighting ends.
Aside from these inconveniences, members of the community and University have put in enough time to make things run smoothly.
“We started preparing [for the parade] in early August,” she said. “That’s a good four months from start to end.”
Much of the work put into the parade came from 60 to 70 volunteers, 40 of which are from the University. The participation of groups like the ROTC, the gymnastics team and POETS helps strengthen the bond between the campus and the city, according to Ruhe.
“It’s a good coming together of the University and community,” she said.
