City Christmas Parades Saturday, Dec. 2!
Christmas is just around the corner and you don’t want to miss out on the Lafayette and Red Boiling Springs Christmas parades set for Saturday, December 2nd, 2023.
The 2023 Macon County Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade, in Lafayette, will kick off at 1 p.m. and the theme is “Evergreen Dreams”! This year’s Grand Marshal is Nancy Doss.
For the last 34 years Ralph and Nancy Doss have called Macon County home. Retirement to Tennessee meant coming back to his family farm for Ralph, but for Nancy it was a new experience. She had been raised in Pittsbugh, Pennsylvania, far from the country and even further from a farm! It did not take long, though, for her to appreciate the beauty of the Tennessee landscape and all Macon County had to offer. As an artist, she had all sorts of new subjects to enjoy.
Ralph’s career had taken Nancy and their family to Europe, Africa, and Australia. Nancy worked as a music teacher in both Australia and Africa. This brought her in close contact with the local population. In Australia, in particular, her students included many Aboriginal children. The boys and girls soon also became subjects for her paintings; it was not long before her Aboriginal drawings were well-recognized.
Once settled in Tennessee, Nancy’s art took a different turn. She began receiving requests to teach painting to adults. In a fairly short time, her students were doing so well that Nancy thought it was time to show the community the talent here in Macon County, and after 20 years the annual art show, Arts in Bloom, continues to thrive.
The success of the art show spawned all sorts of art interest across the county. Nancy was asked to do after school art programs, art advocacy talks at clubs, and most importantly, was asked to consider starting a Macon County arts council, which was formed in 2007. During Nancy’s tenure on the Macon County Arts Council board, more art was brought into the schools, public art in the form of murals were hung around the square, and many opportunities for local artists became available. Music concerts became part of the community calendar. Art – in all its forms – took on a whole new importance in Macon County.
Art was not the only effort Nancy made in the community. She served on the Library Board for a short time and helped with the Geraldine Hire addition to the library. She also was a member of the United Neighbors FCE Club and served as president for several years.
Nancy and Ralph have four children, living in different parts of the world from Australia, to California, Colorado, and Vermont. They are active members of the Church of Christ. Nancy continues to teach adult classes – and do what she can to foster a love of the arts.
The parade will begin at Tractor Supply, proceed up the by-pass and turn left onto College Street. The parade will travel up College Street to the square, entering the square at McClard’s Gifts. It will then proceed around the square and enter Scottsville Road. The parade will then travel down Scottsville Road, turning right onto Akersville Road to disassemble at the Assembly of God Church.
All entries must be in line by 11:00 a.m. to be judged. Parade line up areas are: Ben Bray’s parking lot- all ATV’s/UTV’s; Winding Stairs Entrance-all horse and riders, all horse & buggies, please keep the horses in the grassy areas; Community Connection Church-all antique autos, all antique tractors, all individual cars/trucks and all pageant queens; Hwy. 52 By-Pass at Sunshine Market-all dignitaries, all large business, all small business, all non-profit/clubs/churches. Signs will be posted and volunteers will be present to help you get in the correct location. Final judging will take place before the parade and ribbons will be awarded before the line-up moves to TSC at 12:30 p.m.
If you need more information, please contact the Chamber of Commerce at 615-666-5885.
The 2023 RBS Nighttime Christmas Parade will follow at 6:00 p.m.
The theme of this year’s Red Boiling Springs parade is “Oh, Christmas Tree” and it will begin at Babynov (500 Anne-Laure Pauvert Lane in RBS), travel from Hwy. 52 East to Hwy. 56 North, circle around in Palace parking lot, then through town (Market Street), continue through historic district (Hwy. 151), and conclude at the intersection on Hwy. 151 and Hwy 52. All floats and participants are asked to return to Babynov using Hwy 52.
This year’s Grand Marshal is Linda Perdue.
Linda Perdue is the sole owner of Red Boiling Springs Florist in Red Boiling Springs, a compassionate family owned business in Macon County. Linda works along side of her daughter, Amanda, helping families celebrate the happiest of times and darkest moments of their lives through the art of flowers. Linda was born in Clay County but has been part of the RBS Community her whole entire life. Throughout the years she has strived to support our community by sponsoring local events and schools organizations.
Before Linda owned RBS Florist, she worked at OshKosh B’ Gosh, upon the closing of Oshkosh she attended Volstate design courses and was a hobbyist on the weekends doing craft shows selling her handmade items. She then began her floral career by working at Monroe County Florist in Tompkinsville, Ky. for 3 years before purchasing her own business in Red Boiling Springs.
Linda is married to Roger her husband of 54 years. They are parents to Scottie and his wife Tina, Kevin and his wife Heather, and Amanda and her husband Ricky. They are grandparents to Casey, Kalisha, Justin, Tessa, Zachary, Madison, Kingston and Jericho.
“I am honored to be Grand Marshal of this year’s parade,” said Linda.
The Junior Grand Marshal for the 2023 RBS Nighttime Christmas Parade is the RBS FFA.
RBS parade participants must be in line by 4:00 p.m. to be judged. You may pre-register until Friday, November 24, for $20. If you miss the pre-register deadline, you can sign up the day of the parade for $25. If you have any questions or concerns, please, contact: Amber Miller at 615-561-0899 (call or text) or Email: 37150CommunityCenter@gmail.com.