Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Open House, Parade, Other Events December 7

It's time for Christmas in Nevada County. The Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce has been busy planning a wide variety of activities for the holidays.

Mary Godwin, executive director of the Chamber, said the holiday fun will kick off Thursday, Dec. 7, with the Fourth Annual Christmas Parade.

Registration and line-up for the parade will be 3:30 p.m., with all entries to be in line by 4:45 p.m. The judging of the floats will be done at 5 o'clock, with the parade taking place at 6 p.m.

This year's parade theme will be "A Cozy Christmas Eve".

There will be six divisions for people to enter. First will be floats, nine feet and up, with the top five finishers taking home some cold hard cash.

In fact, the winner of the float division will receive $125, with second place taking $100. The third place finisher will earn $75, while fourth gets $50 and fifth takes home $25.

The mini-float division, for those eight feet and shorter, there is only one place, and the winner receives $50.

There will also be but one winner in the decorated cars and trucks class, and they get $10.

The best decorated bicycle will earn $10, as will the best decorated golf cart or all-terrain vehicle.

And, the best dressed animal will also be presented $10.

The parade will line up at the First United Methodist Church, head down highway 67 south, turn left on East Elm, and finish at the courthouse.

Winners of the different float divisions will be named at Christmas on the Square, which follows the parade.

The Christmas binge continues at the courthouse with Christmas on the Square getting underway.

There will be plenty of entertainment and refreshments available. Youngsters can visit with Santa to let him know what they want, and the event will end with the snowball avalanche. The avalanche of ping pong balls will occur twice, as there are two categories. Once for children, and again for the larger children called adults.

The ping pong balls will have discounts written on them from local merchants.

Along with all this fun, the winners of the Parade of Homes and Best Decorated Window Contest will be announced.

The window contest is open to any retail merchant or business, and there is no entry fee. The idea is to promote the holiday season for the area.

Windows will be judged on originality, creativity, merchandising and overall beauty.

Deadline for entering was Dec. 5, with judging Dec. 6.

The winning business gets its name engraved on a traveling plaque to be displayed for a year in the business.

The parade of homes contest is open to all residents in the city and county, with judging to be done on homes inside the city limits, and again for those in the county.

Winners will be announced at Christmas on the Square Dec. 7.

All entries were judged based on originality, creativity and presentation, with the winning entries also selected based on the appearance of the exterior of their home and yard.

Winning entries will have signs displayed in their yards throughout the month of December, and will receive a certificate of award.

The criteria for the contest includes the best lighted display, consisting primarily of lights.

Next is the best unlighted display, based on decorations as the centerpiece of the entry, using as few lights as possible.

The best theme will be picked based on all decorations being tied to a central theme.

Things continue on Dec. 16, with the second annual Breakfast with Santa.

It began last year, Godwin said, as a holiday activity for area youngsters up to age 12.

Those coming to have breakfast with Santa will get a sausage biscuit, orange juice, milk and a Danish.

When the feed is over, they can visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus, letting him know what they want for Christmas, play Christmas bingo, enjoy face painting, or write a letter to Santa.

In all, Godwin said, there will be about 15 activities for the youngsters to participate in.