It’s time again for the annual Sertoma Club Christmas parade, which attracts the crowds each year to downtown Laurel.

Steve Thrash, treasurer for the Sertoma Club, said the organization has hosted the event ever year since the 1970s. This year’s Laurel Christmas Parade is scheduled for 10 a.m. December 5.

“We proclaim it to be the largest in the state, and nobody’s ever challenged that,” he said. “We average about 120 to 130 entries per year.”

Thrash said this year’s Miss Mississippi Anna Tadlock will serve as grand marshal.

“We’ve had some good grand marshals through the years, but it’s tough to get somebody to come to Laurel in this economy,” he said. “The international president of the Sertoma Club has come to Laurel for the parade the past 12 years, but won’t be able to make it this year.”

Thrash, who has worked with the parade for over a decade, said the event brings a lot of fun to the city.

“It’s a tradition with the Sertoma guys to get up early that morning, go to breakfast at Shoney’s as a group of men and start lining the parade up,” he said. “We get entries in their spots. There’s an excitement when the parade is about to start and we shoot that cannon off. The parade is a local icon.”

Thrash said as many as 10,000 visitors line up annually for the parade.

“Even the year of Hurricane Katrina, we had the parade,” he said. “Through all of these hard times, people might not even show up or have the money to show up. But, it’s something we felt like the community needed to forget about Katrina. It turned out to be a great parade.”

Thrash said one of the biggest attractions each year is the Sertoma Club Santa Claus float.

“We distribute 600 pounds worth of candy every year,” he said. “The children just look forward to that at the end of the parade.”

Thomas Rogers, a charter member of the Sertoma Club in 1976, said he has enjoyed helping put the parade on over the years.

“It’s always been a success,” he said. ‘The Sertoma Club enjoys doing it for the community. We look forward to seeing what people do with their floats.

The Sertoma Club is accepting entries for the parade through November 30, Thrash said.

“The deadline is always the Monday before the parade,” he said. “It gives us time to get it lined out and get the route marked out.”