Crockett Christmas Parade Biggest and Best in Years

By Greg Ritchie

Messenger Reporter

CROCKETT – Houston County Career Women (HCCW) held their annual Christmas parade Thursday, Nov. 16 in the downtown Crockett square to accolades from locals, declaring it one of the biggest and best in memory. The parade, titled, “A Gingerbread and Gumdrop Christmas,” featured floats from all around the county, many of them intricate and lit for Christmas.

Participants included local schools, governments and churches, along with several other citizens and local groups. HCCW President Sarah Bird said she couldn’t be prouder of all the people who made it possible.

“The parade was one of the biggest ever. It was amazing and the best I’ve seen,” Bird said. “It was a lot of work, behind the scenes with the ladies and all the members who worked so hard. The participants with the floats stepped up and did an amazing job. There wasn’t one bad entry – it was beautiful.”

HCCW met with volunteers to distribute food collected during their Christmas parade to Angels and Elves, a local ministry who provides help to the elderly during the holiday season.

In lieu of a parade entry fee, the HCCW ladies decided to ask for donations of non-perishable food after hearing about a similar idea in another town. The group contacted Angels and Elves Ministry, a local charitable group who provides help for the less fortunate during the holiday season. The group provided HCCW with a list of some of the items they could use and the parade participants were each asked to donate 10 food items.

Angels and Elves focuses on the elderly who do not always have family to help them or support them. The career women met Friday, Nov. 17 in downtown Crockett to transfer the massive pile of food to the angels to be distributed to those most in need. Bird said they also support “Toys-and-Tots and hope to give between $15-20,000 in scholarships after their big “Purse-a-palooza” event next year.

Bird was proud the group was able to support another local organization trying to do good for the local community.

“It stays in Houston County,” Bird said. “So many locals and groups support our scholarship program each year, it was important to us to support another local organization.”

The 2023 Parade Winners were: