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JAMESTOWN, NY (WNY News Now) — With the annual Christmas Parade only days away, crews are working hard to complete final preparations.
“First is the tree, right? So I’d have to say thanks to the New Hope Community Church for donating the tree, Lakeshore Paving for helping us to get it here, the BPU with their guys and their crane helping to lift it off and getting it set in its place, and the Parks Department guys for securing it down and cutting the tree itself,” says Dan Stone, Jamestown Parks Director.
The 40 foot tall Norway Spruce was cut earlier this month, and has been decorated with over 3,000 energy saving LED lights ahead of the ceremonial lighting on Saturday.
However, with high winds in the forecast, local crews are taking precautions to keep the tree upright.
“We’ve got a bunch of cables, we have it anchored down. We have a box to help keep it secure. It’s all drilled together and held down with sandbags, and we try to keep it as tight and as best we can,” assures Stone.
The longtime holiday tradition is hosted by Collaborative Children’s Solutions and the City of Jamestown. While planning has been in the works for months, in just the past few weeks, preparation got underway.
“We come and we check it just about every morning. Turn on the lights and we take our drive through town and check on all the other lights, the snowflakes, the twinkle lights, the poles we have lit, and all the trees the guys decorated too,” says Stone.
The parade itself will begin on the Third Street Bridge at six o’clock Saturday, and after a silent section between Lafayette and Washington Streets, the procession through Downtown ultimately ending at City Hall.
“Coming up with our plan with JPD of how we’re gonna close the roads and when they’re gonna be closed. So we’ll be looking at closing Third Street probably right around 4:00 on Saturday. The parade starts at 6 and hopefully we’ll have it lit by about 6:30 that night as the parade goes through,” explains Stone.
The parade will have two exit points to keep traffic flowing, down Third Street towards the high school and up Prendergast Avenue. Over 100 vehicles are expected to participate this weekend.
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