Chistmas Under the Stars Parade

Safe Event For Families (SEFF) will be out in full force Thursday (December 1st) preparing for Shawnee's biggest winter celebration - the annual Christmas parade. There will be a twist though; the parade route is taking a detour this year, due to Streetscape construction wrapping up along Main Street.<br>
The new route will begin at Main Street and Broadway. It will move north on Broadway to Highland, where floats and marchers will turn east onto Highland and finish at Union Street. The route will basically work its way around much of Woodland Veterans Park - which will offer lots of space for parade-goers to gather. The route change is strictly temporary, making a concession only until Streetscape is done. Next year's parade should return to Main Street, as per tradition.<br>
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Pre-show- Residents can jumpstart the festivities by attending the annual KGFF-Jones Theatres Cans Film Festival downtown, where there will be a special 4:30 p.m. viewing of the classic holiday film, "Home Alone," rated PG, at the Carmike Hornbeck & Penthouse Twin, 125 N. Bell St. Doors open 3:30 p.m., and the show will let out before 6:30 p.m., just in time for the parade. Admission for one person is a donation of two canned goods. Donations will be given to the Salvation Army.<br>
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Main event - "Christmas Under the Stars," this year's theme for the parade, which starts at 7 p.m. In an effort to keep the parade moving along, SEFF will judge floats while they are in the line-up area, so there's no more stopping at a grandstand.<br>
Entertainment will begin at 6 p.m. SEFF will be spreading out the several bandstands was an effort to enable people to fan out and get a better view the parade, while still being able to hear about the floats from emcees along the route. There will be four trophy winners -- President's Trophy, Mayor's Trophy, Grand Marshall's Trophy and Best Overall. This year Mills Machine holds the distinction of being Grand Marshal.<br>