Christmas parade to welcome Santa to Tecumseh

The Community Learning Connections float from the Dec. 6, 2024 parade.

By DAVID PANIAN

davidp@tecumsehherald.com

TECUMSEH — More than 50 brightly lit parade entries are expected to illuminate Chicago Boulevard this Friday evening.

Tecumseh’s annual Christmas parade will usher Santa Claus into town at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5. The parade starts at East Chicago Boulevard and North Maumee Street and ends at North Union Street, just off the Boulevard.

Each year, a group that includes staff from the city’s Economic Development Department, the Downtown Development Authority and Tecumseh Events, Activities and Marketing (TEAM) come together to put on the Christmas parade.

“The Economic Development Department acts as the chair but we have volunteers from DDA and TEAM that help us before the parade and during the parade,” Rhonda Nowak, the city’s event and marketing coordinator said in an email.

Planning for each year’s parade begins in August or September, Nowak said. When it is time to register the entries, the city publishes the link to the signup page on its and the Downtown Tecumseh websites and Facebook pages.

There are usually about 45 to 55 entries each year. This year, there are 52, Nowak said.

Each parade has a theme to help guide groups that plan to decorate a float, Nowak said. This year’s theme is “A Walk Down Gingerbread Lane.”

There are a couple of rules for the parade participants.

 “We do not allow anyone to have a Santa on their float since the purpose of the parade is to welcome our Santa to Tecumseh,” Nowak said. 

Candy throwing is forbidden in order to keep kids from running into the street. Instead, the organizers ask that groups that want to distribute candy have people who can hand candy to children in the audience.

Lineup for the parade begins at 5 p.m., which is when the boulevard is closed to traffic. Since sunset will be at 5:04 p.m. that night, most of the lineup takes place in the dark.

“It does create a challenge but our committee has a good system of breaking the parade into sections so we know that number 1-10 are in one block and then 11-20 in the next so we can help people find their spot easier,” Nowak said. “Plus, we have white stakes with numbers on them along the road to help participants.”

Once the parade begins, announcer Shannon Renee McGee from Me in the Meantime will introduce the entries to the crowd. McGee also is a DJ at WQTE radio in Adrian.

“We are very excited to have her join us this year,” Nowak said. “We knew Shannon since she is one of our local business owners and we also knew she was a DJ so it seemed like a logical choice.”

Of course, the star of the parade is Santa. He has a lot of places to be in the weeks leading up to his worldwide gift-delivery sprint on Christmas Eve, yet he makes time to be in Tecumseh on the first Friday of December and then on certain dates throughout the month when he’s available to meet with local children and hear their Christmas wishes.

“We have a really good relationship with Santa,” Nowak said. “He loves the kids of Tecumseh so much he gives us first choice on his December calendar.”

For the parade, it might help that he doesn’t need to bring his own sleigh.

“This year TEAM and DDA went together and bought Santa a new sleigh that has been totally refurbished just for him,” Nowak said. “Then the DPW built a special trailer for the sleigh so it looks the sleigh is floating down the street.”

After the parade, Santa will spend time at his home away from home at the Market on Evans, 213 N. Evans St., where there also will be the second night market of the season with gift and food vendors and entertainment. The market runs from 4-8 p.m.

Santa’s schedule for the rest of his appearances at the Market on Evans is available on the Downtown Tecumseh Facebook page and website.