NEWS INFORMATION FROM |
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THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED |
FOR IMMEDIATE USE |
FAVORITE HOLIDAY MEMORIES COME TO LIFE AT THE 2005 HARRISBURG HOLIDAY PARADE ON SAT. NOV. 19 AT 10 A.M.;WHBG TV-20 TELETHON SET FOR FRI. NOV.18 FROM NOON TO 9 P.M. AT SCI-TECH HIGHMayor Stephen R. Reed today invited residents and visitors from throughout Central Pennsylvania to the City of Harrisburg’s 2005 Holiday Parade, set to begin at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 19 in downtown Harrisburg. The event marks the start of the 2005 Thanksgiving-Hanukkah-Christmas-Kwanzaa- New Year Season in the Greater Harrisburg region. WHBG TV-20, the city’s television station will also be conducting its annual telethon to benefit the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank the day before the parade, Fri. Nov. 18, from Noon to 9 p.m. at Sci Tech High in downtown. Harrisburg’s Holiday Parade was begun by the Mayor in 1986 and has since grown to become the region’s largest holiday parade. Over $7,500 in appearance monies and cash prizes are awarded to the top 3 entries in 5 categories of parade competition. The City-sponsored parade is also a sanctioned competition of the high school Cavalcade of Bands, which produces judged competitions for high school marching bands across the United States. Reed said the city-owned and operated WHBG TV-20 will again be conducting its annual telethon benefiting the SouthCentral Pennsylvania Food Bank. The event, which runs from Noon to 9 p.m. on Friday, November 18, will be held inside the new Harrisburg University High School of Science and Technology (Sci-Tech High) at 213 Market Street in the heart of downtown. Donors may pledge financial contributions or drop by and donate canned and non-perishable goods to the regional food bank. Live entertainment, special guests and more will be featured throughout the daylong holiday benefit. The Mayor said the 2005 Holiday Parade theme is “Favorite Holiday Memory” and features over 2,500 marchers in over a hundred parade units, including giant helium-filled balloons, youth marching units, over a dozen marching bands, and scores of commercial and non-commercial floats, fire trucks and the first official appearance of Santa Claus in the region. Mayor Reed said new for this year will be a Military and Veteran’s Division, which was added to honor both the past and present men and women of America’s Armed forces. With Veterans’ Day only 8 days earlier, the Holiday Parade serves as the perfect venue to recognize present military and veteran military personnel for their selfless sacrifice and dedication to America’s freedom. The Division will be the lead unit in this year’s Parade and will be comprised of active duty military, reserve and Guard units, as well as veterans’ groups and a military band. The Vietnam Veterans of America, Capital Chapter 542 will sponsor a float symbolizing the importance of communicating with active duty military personnel over the holidays. Reed added that the veteran’s group will be sponsoring a public signing of greeting cards at the parade for oversees military personnel. A special booth will be located beside the Downtown Improvement District offices at 22 N. 2nd Street for the public to send greetings to our soldiers. The Mayor encourages all parade attendees to take advantage of the opportunity to show our service personnel that Harrisburg recognizes their service and sacrifice, especially over the holidays. Reed said WHTM ABC-27 will once again emcee the Parade live and then tape-delay broadcast it across the midstate on Thursday, November 24, Thanks- giving Day, beginning at 10 a.m. College football commitments prevent the parade from being shown live on Parade day. The Harrisburg Holiday Parade is the only midstate parade, and one of only two in the entire Commonwealth, that have gained televised status, thus allowing those unable to attend in person the opportunity to still enjoy the high quality holiday entertainment production. The Mayor said Parade winners would be announced and presented with their trophies in the Strawberry Square Atrium beginning at 1:00 p.m. Reed said the city’s popular Festival of Lights, first begun by the Mayor in 1993, will also kick off on Parade day and features thousands of sparkling lights and holiday set-pieces placed throughout downtown and on City Island. The Mayor said the City of Harrisburg annually plans and produces the Holiday Parade and Festival of Lights, and is this year joined by co-sponsors Belco Community Credit Union, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region, Bon-Ton Department Stores, Clear Channel Radio, Coca Cola Bottling Company, FastSigns, Nextel Partners, Patriot News, Faulkner Honda, Harrisburg Hilton & Towers, Remax Realty, Saturn of Harrisburg, Sheetz Inc., Subway Restaurants, Comcast Cable, Pennsy Supply, Pinnacle Health, PSECU, Strawberry Square, Enterprise Rent A Car, Marsh Insurance and WHTM ABC27. The Mayor said that although the Market Street Bridge is under construc- tion, it is not expected to adversely impact the parade. To accommodate some of the larger floats, additional staging areas in the downtown may be utilized. The Holiday Parade route remains the same as in previous years, beginning on City Island and proceeding east on Market Street to N. 2nd Street, where it will turn left and go north to North Street, west on North to Front Street, and south on Front Street and back to City Island. The Parade Review stand remains on Market Square. On-street parking is free for the day except on Parade route streets, where parking is banned until after post-parade clean-up work is concluded. Normal special event parking fees will be charged at the Market Square and Locust Street Parking Garages from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parking in the Walnut Street Garage is not free and is limited to the guests at the Hilton Hotel and Towers, Strawberry Square or the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts. The Mayor encouraged parade attendees to make a full day of it downtown, starting with the Holiday Parade, then a visit to Strawberry Square or any other downtown eatery for lunch, followed by a stop at the Whitaker Center and the IMAX Theater, and finishing with a leisurely drive around the Festival of Lights on City Island. Area motorists are advised the Market Street Bridge will be closed to through traffic on Parade Day until after the conclusion of the Parade. The bridge will close to general traffic at 7:00 a.m., after which only parade units will have access to City Island. Motorists are also warned that parking along the Parade route streets in downtown is prohibited until after the conclusion of the Parade and that illegally parked vehicles will be ticketed and towed. |
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