Santa, Scooby Doo, Snoopy slated for Ocala parade

OCALA - The annual Ocala/Marion County Christmas Parade, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, will have 120 units, including 49 floats and 16 bands.

In a news release on Thursday, Phyllis Hamm of The Friends of the Christmas Parade, detailed the following facts about this year's event:

• The parade route is on East Silver Springs Boulevard, starting at Southeast 25th Avenue and traveling westward to end at Northeast Eighth Avenue.
• The Grand Marshal is Guy Lemieux, owner of Lemieux Diamond Co., and the Presenting Sponsor of the parade is Combined Insurance Services Inc.
• The Junior Parade Marshal is Elyssa Maurer, a third-grader at Belleview Elementary School, who submitted the winning theme "A Magical Christmas." During the parade, she will be accompanied by the Star-Banner’s Matt Manatee.
• Parade celebrities will include the Cartoon Network’s Scooby Doo and MetLife’s Snoopy.
• Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus will bring up the end of the parade.
• The parade will televised live on the Marion County School System channel and rebroadcast several times in the following weeks until Christmas.
• Reserved bleacher seats at the Ocala Shopping Center and Sav-A-Lot center were still on sale for $8 each. They can be purchased at the downtown parade office, 300 S.E. First Ave., Suite D, from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For more information, contact Hamm at 595-2446 or 351-3191.