The annual Hartselle Christmas Parade will take place Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. The parade is sponsored by Kiwanis each year and will be adding new additions to help raise funds for the Hartselle Shining Stars and the Circle Ranch in Danville.

Mike Swafford is the parade organizer, and said the changes were made as an effort to help the parade continue to grow. “Well without doing anything, the parade continues to grow each year. We are setting records for most participants and most attendees. So we felt like there is something there, there is something about that downtown, hometown Christmas magic and having experienced that for several years, we were like you know what, we can take all of this joy and do somethings good with it to help these organizations,” Swafford said.

Since so many people begin arriving early for the parade, there will be music downtown as well as food trucks. In addition, this year will be the first year that there will be parade t-shirts. Swafford said there will also be special seating that each elementary schools will be auctioning off as a fundraiser, and VIP seating that Kiwanis will be auctioning off. “We have created VIP seating which we are auctioning off for a fundraiser. There will be an elevated platform with comfortable seating, heat and snacks. It will probably be the best seat in the house,” Swafford said.

In the past, the funds from the parade were raised through the entry fees, with the new additions, Swafford said he hopes to be able to make a bigger impact. He said that they chose the two organizations due to having worked with them in the past.  “At our normal meetings we invite people to come speak with us for our lunch. We had Circle Ranch one day. It has had a long history in this area, it was something else before and Circle Ranch kind of brought it back to life. Many of the members have helped work on buildings out there and helped refurbished the property in years past, so it had a connection to us already. With the Hartselle Shining Stars, we already partner with them in a small capacity throughout the year with supporting them with some of the sporting events and some of the sponsorships,  and they also do a water station during out half marathon. We already had a good relationship with them so we just felt that we can do more,” Swafford said.

As one of the organizers of the event, Swafford says he has a different perspective of the parade, but that his favorite part is seeing the community enjoy the event together. “People are excited. For that one night, for those few hours, nothing else really matters. It is just joy for children, excitement for adults and when you are are turning from Railroad Street onto 36, you are smack dab in the heart of a joy filled town. That is probably my favorite part,” Swafford said.

Kiwanis will be accepting floats in the parade up until the Monday before the parade. They can be contacted through their website or on social media for the information, and the latest updates on the parade.