City's annual holiday parade is coming to town Nov. 29

Yuletide spirit will filter throughout the city over the coming weeks.

The annual Christmas parade will begin at 1 p.m. Nov. 29 at Watertown High School and snake its way up Washington Street. The parade will halt at its historical endpoint along Stone Street.

"Everything's looking good this year," said Stanley E. Zaremba, parade chairman for Army & Navy American Legion Post 61. "We're at about the same place we were last year."

By Thursday night, 47 groups had signed up to participate in the event. Some stragglers likely will join the group a few days before the parade, topping out the participants at 50 to 55 groups, Mr. Zaremba said.

"We've got some new businesses from Carthage that are bringing their floats down from the parade up there last week," Mr. Zaremba said.

The Carthage and West Carthage holiday parade was Nov. 14.

Santa Claus also will attend the Watertown parade.

"He'll be at the end, most likely on a fire truck, or at least something really big," Mr. Zaremba said.

Last year, the city detached itself from the parade by scheduling the Christmas tree lighting on a different date. The mayor had historically lit the tree outside City Hall following the parade. This year, the tree will be lit during a ceremony held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 3 in Public Square.

Anyone interested in participating in the parade should call Mr. Zaremba at 416-1087.