By By Paul Keane
Publisher
Christmas will officially roll through Atmore Saturday, with two parades planned and a special event for children on the schedule.
Things will begin Saturday morning at 9 a.m. with a special "Breakfast with Santa" in the Watson Cabin located in Heritage Park. The event will continue through 11 a.m., with children of all ages welcome to attend and meet the jolly elf.
At 1:30 p.m., the Children's Christmas Parade will be held. Line-up will begin at 12:45 at the corner of Church and Main Streets, and sign-up sheets are available at the Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce. Age divisions will be 5-8 and 9-12.
The parade will move north up Main Street to Ridgeley Street, then come down to City Hall, where it will end. For more information on the event, or to register a child, call 368-3893.
A few hours after that parade, at 5 p.m., Atmore's Twilight Christmas Parade will begin on Main Street. Lighted floats and other marchers and participants will make their way through downtown Atmore, offering the young and the young at heart a shot of holiday spirit.
That parade will follow a longer route, starting at City Hall and moving onto Ridgeley Street before turning left on Main Street and heading all the way down to Lindberg Avenue, where it will turn left and end at Escambia County High School.
Patrons of the parade are also encouraged to remain in the downtown area between the two parades in order to get some Christmas shopping done. The Chamber of Commerce is continuing its Great Gift Giveaways, allowing patrons that visit any participating merchant the chance to register to win $300 or two $100 packages of Atmore Area Gift Certificates.
The drawing for those gift certificate packages will be held on Dec. 20, and the certificates can be redeemed the same as cash with any Chamber member merchant.