Rotary Club prepares for 50th Murray Christmas parade

The “Light Up Murray” Christmas parade will begin at 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, and registration is open until Nov. 26 for any business, organization or individual wanting to be part of it. Although it will be the 50th year for the parade, it will be the seventh night-time parade since Rotarians began the “Light Up Murray” tradition.

The Rotary Club’s parade committee is being chaired for the first time this year by Whitney Cope, and Cope said she was also involved with the planning last year alongside former chair Kelly Forster.

“I kind of co-chaired it with Kelly last year, so I learned a little bit about it then,” Cope said. “Obviously, she’s still helping me this year; I’ve just kind of taken ownership of it, so I’m pretty excited. We’ve got maybe 40 registered so far, and the 26th is the last day to register. On the 27th, (the committee will) get together and make the lineup to have it ready for (parade) day.”

The form to register an entry into the parade lineup can be found at www.murraychristmasparade.com. Once you go to the website, you will see three tabs at the top of the page underneath the parade logo, with the middle one shaped like a Christmas tree and saying “Rotary Parade” underneath. After clicking on that tab, participants are required to fill out the registration form there, and in addition to the standard contact information, they are asked to describe the nature of their organization’s float and whether or not they plan to use music with the float.

Participation in the parade is free and organizations are encouraged to show off their best festive displays to “Light Up Murray.” Once registration closes, participants will receive an email with information on when and where to line up, as well as rules for the event.

“I actually was not aware of this (when the planning started), but I did (recently) learn it’s actually the 50th Christmas parade for Murray, so that’s exciting and a big deal,” Cope said. “We’re excited to get it built back up after COVID (canceled it in 2020). We had it last year, and it was good, but we just want it to keep growing. The only real requirement for floats, obviously, is that you have lights, whether it’s the people walking in the parade or the float or vehicle or whatever it may be. (A lot of people) wear a light-up necklace or something like that.”

Cope said last year’s parade included about 80 entries, and the highest number in the past was about 110.

“We had (many) entries from a lot of years past, and we had several new businesses and groups in there last year, so that’s good too,” Cope said. “We will still have the ‘Text to Vote’ contest, and there is a prize for that. We’ll have a banner with the text-to-vote number, and people will also be handing out flyers telling people how to vote.”

Cope said the first floats will start lining up around 3:30 p.m. that day, and the email participants receive will give them exact instructions on when and where they need to gather with their float. The parade route will start on 10th Street and continue down Main Street past the court square toward the old Briggs & Stratton lot. Anyone with additional questions may email Cope at murraychristmasparade@gmail.com.