Grants parade coming up Saturday

By Mike Marino
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — Kids of all ages are getting ready for Christmas.

In Cibola County it officially gets under way Saturday with the Grants Mainstreet Parade, the arrival of Santa Claus, and the community lighting of the first city Christmas tree in the Fire and Ice Park next to the post office on Santa Fe Avenue. The first Christmas tree to be lighted in town is a community effort as students from the area schools have been asked to make handmade ornaments to decorate the tree so they can be part of this new tradition being established in town. The students were asked to make ornaments that would measure 8 inches and to be weatherproof if possible.

According to Kathy Gonzales with Grants Mainstreet, plans are progressing. “It’s going really well this year and should have a good turnout for this great community event,” she said.

The theme of this year’s parade is Let Freedom Ring with the Bells of Christmas to honor the patriotic spirit of the nation. The parade will begin at 6 p.m. when it’s dark enough for the public to enjoy the floats decorated with lights as they make their way through town to Fire and Ice Park. The parade will begin forming up at the Old Alco building between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. so they can be put in the proper order for the journey. There is no deadline for float entry and participants can register when they show up, but is best to reserve early so organizers can estimate the number of floats. The parade entry fee is $20.

Mayor Joe Murietta will throw the switch to illuminate the tree and he is enthusiastic about it.

“It’s wonderful what Walter Jaramillo and his crew, along with everyone at Mainstreet are doing to help liven things up this year for our celebration. It’s a great thing for the community and I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

Another first this year for the seasonal event is the addition of vendors with food and crafts and the entry fee to set up a booth is just $10. The 40-foot tree is being obtained through the forest service and should be in place later in the week and decorating of the festive symbol to begin on Friday. The rest of the town has been decorated up and down Santa Fe Avenue and the park areas so everything should be a go by the end of the day on Friday for the weekend kickoff. OMI which handles the decorating of the town estimates that altogether there will be 60,000 lights illuminating the city of Grants for the holidays.