BEATRICE – Weather more typical of October greeted the crowd at the 10th annual Holiday lighted parade in downtown Beatrice Saturday night.


"We put in our chamber order...and it came through. It's fantastic. I know there was a line for the reindeer like a half-hour before the event even opened for that. It's been a lot of fun seeing everyone come in and line the parade route, so it's all coming together."


The Beatrice Area Chamber of Commerce holiday event features live reindeer, hot chocolate and other goodies, and lighted floats put together by local businesses, organizations, schools and city government departments.


Beatrice Area Chamber Executive Angie Bruna said about 25 entries participated in the annual lighted parade, including some first-time entries. Over the ten years, Bruna says it’s been a lot of fun. "Before ten years ago, with the first one, we were...a few of us just sitting around chatting about why couldn't Beatrice be a Christmas town and what do we need to do to make that happen. That's kind of how the start of the holiday lighted parade came to be. Now, we've grown, we have more entries than we had.....we have lights all over Charles Park...and we have ideas for more, so we want to see this continue to expand."


Lights were added to more trees at Charles Park next to the chamber headquarters building. Main Street Beatrice received a grant to add new snowflake holiday lights to the downtown.


The holiday lighted parade expanded to include business specials, crafts and an art show, activities at the library and Beatrice Fire and Rescue offering fire truck rides throughout the afternoon.

Parade winners included Yesterday's Lady for Best Holiday Spirit...Littleman Lawn and Landscape for the Best Use of Lights....and Lineweber Dirtworks LLC for Best Use of Theme.


Santa Claus, hopping a ride in a convertible, made a visit to the parade to meet with kids afterward at Charles Park.