LIMESTONE COUNTY – The Greater Limestone County Chamber of Commerce announced today [Friday, September 25, 2020] the formation of a committee to host the annual Athens-Limestone County Christmas Parade.
The Chamber formed the committee to create a collaborative effort. Those in the committee include the Chamber, Athens Main Street, City of Athens, Limestone County Commission, Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association, Limestone County Schools, Athens City Schools, and several community advocates. The committee has selected Blake Williams, President & CEO of Blake Williams Communications, as chair to lead the committee.
The committee is proud to announce the theme for this year’s Christmas parade and festivities is ‘A Christmas Wish. Love, Unity, and Community.’ This theme will be used throughout several of the community events this Christmas season.
This year’s parade will be Thursday, December 3, 2020, at 6 p.m. The parade will follow the same route as in previous years. Entries of the parade will assemble at Athens Middle School, travel west on Hobbs, south on Jefferson, east on Market, south on Marion, west on Washington, south on Jefferson and disassemble at the Hometown Shopping Center.
The grand marshal of the parade is Mrs. Betty Christopher. Christopher has been involved with the parade since 2004. The committee voted to honor her and her hard work leading this community tradition for several years.
Applications for the parade will be distributed on the websites of the Chamber, Main Street, Tourism, County, and City next week. Applications must be turned in at the Chamber office at 101 S. Beaty Street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. The deadline to register for the parade is November 19, 2020, at 4 p.m. No late entries will be accepted.
The chamber and parade committee encourages parade participants and attendees to follow all local and state COVID-19 guidelines; including, but not limited to, social distancing and the wearing of masks when six feet of separation cannot be maintained.
QUOTES
Mayor Ronnie Marks
Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks “I cannot imagine our Classic. Southern. Character. hometown without a Christmas parade. It is one of the highlights of the year in Athens. Our community embraced the challenge of helping host the parade this year and honoring Betty Christopher, who has been an integral part of providing Athens with a much-loved Christmas tradition. The parade theme ‘My Christmas Wish’ with an emphasis on love, unity and community gives us all an opportunity to remember what is most important.”
Collin Daly
Limestone County Commission Chairman Collin Daly “There is no place like Christmas in Limestone County. The
community spirit created by Ms. Christopher during this parade for many years, is the core of this partnership that has come together to honor her and kick off the Christmas Season in Limestone County.”
Jennifer Williamson
Greater Limestone County Chamber of Commerce President Jennifer Williamson “The Chamber is thrilled to continue our community’s annual tradition by hosting the 2020 Athens Christmas Parade for our citizens to enjoy this Christmas season. We appreciate the collaboration and support from the City of Athens, Limestone County Commission, Athens Main Street, Athens-Limestone County Tourism, our local school systems and many community volunteers who are coming together to support our local parade this year. We look forward to highlighting our businesses and community as we celebrate the Christmas holiday with our Christmas parade.”
Blake Williams
Parade Committee Chair Blake Williams “I am looking forward to working with the Chamber and several great community organizations to bring Christmas joy to the entire county. I want to encourage everyone to participate in this year’s Limestone County Christmas festivities.”
Athens Main Street Executive Director
Tere Richardson
“The Athens Christmas Parade has been uniting our community for decades. We are excited to be able to bring such a timely and important theme to our parade for 2020. Plan to bring your family to our lovely Downtown and enjoy this Athens tradition!”
Teresa Todd
Athens-Limestone County Tourism Association President Teresa Todd “Our upcoming holiday season gives me hope for our country our county and our towns to heal and to come back from this pandemic. I hope our community will acknowledge our efforts this Christmas to, if only for a couple of months, try to bring back and enjoy our world as what normal was last year.”
Media Release/Blake Williams Communications
