Mid 70-degree weather brought a record turnout to the Murfreesboro Christmas Parade. Over 50-thousand lined the parade route this year. THANKS to all of the entries as well as hundreds of volunteers who planned and coordinated this major event.
The theme, "Christmas Around The World", showed the cultural diversity in our community.
Murfreesboro Police Chief Glenn Chrisman, who retires at the end of this month, joined his wife Lucy from the back deck of a Rudolph red Ford Roush from Ford of Murfreesboro. As he passed, the throngs that crowded both sides of the streets shouted, "we'll miss you", "thank you", "we love you", on and on. Chrisman has been a part of local law enforcement for almost 40-years.
The Winners
Winning entries included Relay For Life taking the VEHICLE CATEGORY (entry #9)
The top WALKING UNIT was Dance Works (entry #2).
The best BUSINESS FLOAT was Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation (entry #30).
The winning CHURCH or SCHOOL FLOAT was Woodbury Road Baptist Church (entry #40).
The top SCOUT ENTRY was troop 1218 of the American Heritage Girl Scouts (entry #14).
The CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PRESIDENT'S AWARD went to the Rutherford County Sheriffs Office (entry #16).
And the MAYOR'S CUP, which is the entry judged to be best of the show, went to Murfreesboro City Schools (entry #26).
Parade History
Prior to WGNS taking over as lead coordinator of the Murfreesboro Christmas parade in 1984, the chamber handled those duties. That's when they opted out.
Rather than see the Heart of Tennessee without this Yuletide tradition, the Good Neighbor Station jumped-in with WGNS Vice President Lee Ann Walker becoming the coordinator. Other local groups have joined WGNS and linked together to add their talents including the Noon Exchange Club, Stones River Amateur Radio Club, ATMOS Energy, and Synergy Bank.
Walker commented, "These teams don't simply invest money, the most important ingredient to their sponsorship is a true love for the community and a healthy investment of time."
Starting several years ago, a leadership transition began with Angie Walker taking over the total coordination of the parade that includes over a hundred volunteers. In addition, the technical expertise of Tom Delkar is making the Murfreesboro Christmas parade even more digitally streamlined.
