Santa is coming to Winnfield this Friday night when the Piney Woods Express rolls down Main Street for the city’s annual Christmas Parade.  From start (with official vehicles with sirens sounding) to finish (with Santa in his workshop), there will be plenty of family fun with floats and lights and candy-tosses and more.

Time for the parade is 6 p.m.  While Thursday looks to be a rainy day, Friday is projected to be cool and clear, a good night for a parade.

Responsibilities for bringing this big event to the public is shared by three organizations and, of course, the many church, school, civic and business organizations that provide the floats and entries that make up the parade.

City Hall is responsible for the first and the final phases of the parade.  The city will hold a reception from 4 until 5 p.m. at the Winn Parish Library main branch (200 North St. John Street) in honor of the Grand Marshal who this year is Carolyn Phillips, being recognized for her long record of community involvement.  The public is invited to enjoy the reception.  The grand finale of the parade will also be thanks to the city which is providing an impressive fireworks display to fill the night sky with lights and sounds.  

The Winn Chamber of Commerce, which came on board to Christmas Parade activities about three years ago, has provided the second critical link towards the parade’s success by first coming up with the 2023 theme, “Piney Woods Express.”  Patterned around the popular book and movie, “Polar Express,” the theme was tweaked to fit the Piney Woods environment and economy of Winn Parish.  They have also sought groups to participate in the parade. Traditionally, that number won’t be known until just before the parade.  Explains chairman Jason Tarver, “We might just have a handful signed up early in the week and then have 60 by parade time.”

Providing the most manpower for the Dec. 1 event will be the Kiwanis Club which normally has about 16 members handling various duties to keep things rolling smoothly.  Included duties are selection of the Grand Marshal, the lineup and control, judging and trophies.  Kiwanis has produced the parade since 1992.  Prior to that time, the local Jaycees ran the parade until that civic organization folded.  City Police took it over for an interim period until Kiwanis become involved.

Families won’t want to miss the “Piney Woods Express” this Friday, December 1.