Rain holds off, crowds turn out for Clinton’s Christmas parade
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Dream Dance Studio kids participate in Saturday’s Clin- ton Christmas parade. - G Chambers Williams III
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Spectators along Main Street watch the SL Tennessee float come by during last Satur- day night’s Clinton Christmas parade. This was the first-place winner in the parade. - G Chambers Williams III
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The Clinton Blaze Dance Team marches in last Satur- day’s Clinton Christmas parade. - G Chambers Williams III
Despite the threat of rain, the annual Clinton Christmas parade went on without a hitch last Saturday night, although the two local high school bands chose not to participate.
The parade was a success anyway, and there was nothing more than a light mist falling during the event – even though there had been some actual rain about an hour before the start.
A highlight of the event was a light projection show from Stellar Visions and Sound Inc., and there were plenty of floats, dance groups and other participants in the parade, which ran for more than an hour and a half through the downtown area.
Estimates were that about 2,000 people gathered in the downtown area to view the parade, which began on Eagle Bend Road, moved up Market Street, and turned left on Main Street before wrapping up around the Anderson County Courthouse.
The parade, sponsored by the Historic Downtown Clinton organization and the city of Clinton, followed a similar event the evening before in Rocky Top.
Norris and Oak Ridge will have their Christmas parades at 6 p.m. this coming Saturday, Dec. 9
On its Facebook page, Historic Downtown Clinton listed the parade float winners:
• First place: SL Tennessee
• Second place: Eagle Bend Apostolic Church.
• Third place: Edgemoor Baptist Church.
Grand marshal of the 2023 Clinton Christmas parade was John Gamble.
Sponsors of the parade included East Tennessee Orthodontics, Volunteer Hearing, Trey McAdams/State Farm, Hoskins Drug Store Inc., Evans Candy Co., Joy in the Dawn, and Michael Bowers/Farm Bureau.