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Photo by Jon Anderson.
Hundreds of people took part in the 2019 Bluff Park Christmas Parade on Dec. 7, 2019. Posing for a photo, from left, are Rosie Daniel and ZoeyPate.
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Photo by Jon Anderson.
Santa Claus prepares for the start of the parade.
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Photo by Jon Anderson.
The parade makes its way along Cloudland Drive behind Bluff Park Elementary School.
UPDATE: The 2020 Bluff Park Christmas Parade was canceled because of rain.
The fifth annual Bluff Park Christmas Parade is moving to the second weekend in December this year, and Rudolph might have to cover up that shiny nose with a mask.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, parade organizers are asking everyone participating in the parade and attending it to wear masks and asking people to “social distance” from one another.
The event, which is open to the entire community (not just Bluff Park), is set for 10 a.m. Dec. 12. The parade will follow the same route as it did last year, starting and ending at the park next to the Shades Cliff Pool, said Lori Redding, one of six organizers.
The parade will proceed along Cloudland Drive and Lester Lane, then turn south on Clearview (which turns into Maiden Lane), right onto Rockview Lane, right onto Cloudland Drive and end back at the park next to Shades Cliff Pool, Redding said. Last year’s parade had hundreds of people in about 40 entries, including churches, Scouting groups, businesses, the Simmons Middle School cheerleaders, majorettes, the American Legion, families, groups of friends and, of course, Santa Claus.
Organizers gave out gift cards to the Bluff Park Ice Cream Shop for the top parade entries, which included the Ness real estate team (gingerbread house theme), Homewood Church of Christ (tropical Christmas theme), Girl Scout Troop 30647 (dressed as giftboxes) and Girl Scout Troop 746 (dressed as peppermints).
Anyone interested in being part of the parade can fill out a registration form on the Bluff Park Christmas Parade Facebook page. The entry fee is $30 and helps cover expenses such as liability insurance and assistance from Hoover police officers, Redding said.
The parade costs between $1,000 and $1,500 to organize, Redding said. Organizers also sellT-shirts to help pay for it. In past years, theyhave asked businesses to be sponsors, butbecause so many businesses are struggling thisyear, no sponsors were sought, Redding said.Organizers will use some money left over fromlast year to help cover this year, she said.
“We’re excited,” Redding said. “We startedworking on it once we all got kids back goingto some kind of school.”
Organizers are asking people driving to Bluff Park to watch the parade to park at Shades Crest Baptist Church and Bluff Park Elementary School. The parade will go behind the school on Cloudland Drive but not by Shades Crest Baptist on Park Avenue. The church parking lot, however, is one of the closest parking lots.
