‘’Tis the Season’ theme for 23rd Star City Holiday Parade Dec. 1

A new corporate arrival to Lincoln will have a key role in the 23rd annual Star City Holiday Parade Dec. 1.

“Tis the Season” is the theme for the parade, to be held starting at 11 a.m.  in downtown Lincoln.

The parade will be presented by Verizon Wireless, which opened a call center in Lincoln in October, and produced by Updowntowners Inc. and the City of Lincoln.

Verizon is also sponsoring a new float for Major Drummond, the parade mascot.

“Being new to Lincoln, we feel it’s important to get involved in the community,” Karen Opp, human resource manager for Verizon Wireless, said in a news release.

Mayor Chris Beutler, calling himself “a huge fan of the parade,” said he believes “this will be one of the most exciting parades in years.

“The production team and an army of volunteers have created two new floats sponsored by Verizon Wireless and the Community Blood Bank. I hope we have the largest crowd in parade history downtown to enjoy the results of all that hard work.”

Deb Johnson, director of Updowntowners, said the parade attracts about 85,000 people to downtown Lincoln, making it the largest parade of its kind in a five-state area.

The Community Blood Bank is sponsoring a new float for Santa and Mrs. Claus.

“Santa is a long-time blood donor, so he’s looking forward to helping us promote the great work the Community Blood Bank has been doing in Lincoln for 40 years,” said Joyce Halvorsen, blood bank spokeswoman.

Other parade highlights include:

* 16 marching bands, including the 43rd Army Band and bands from Lincoln public high schools, Pius X and Parkview Christian

* Six giant helium balloons

* New community floats created by the Indian Center and Southwest High School

Annual favorites include animal units, clowns, costumed characters, the Star City Sweets, the Lincoln Federal Savings giant piggy bank and Rudolph with Bugle the Elf.

Children are encouraged to bring their letters to Santa with a return address. U.S. Postal Service employees will pick up the letters during the parade, and Santa will write back to them before the holidays.

Pre-parade entertainment will begin at 10 a.m. along the parade route.

Following the parade, the awards ceremony will begin at about 12:45 p.m. in the Lancaster Ballroom at the Cornhusker Marriott. A panel of band professionals will judge the bands in competition. All other judging will be done by a panel of children, ages 8 through 14.

More information on the Star City Parade is available on the City Web site at lincoln.ne.gov and at www.starcityholidayparade.org.

Keep Lincoln and Lancaster County Beautiful is promoting the parade as a litter-free event, and volunteers will be along the parade route to help collect trash and educate the public on the proper disposal of trash.

The parade will be televised live statewide by KOLN-KGIN TV and re-aired Dec. 2 on My TV, Time Warner Cable channel 110.

It also will be re-aired throughout the month of December on 5 CITY-TV, the local government access cable channel.

(See lincoln.ne.gov for 5 CITY-TV schedule.)