TLC Christmas parades, & much more begin tonight

By DEUCE NIVEN & JENN CAUSEY

     Change and stability, existing together, define looming holiday events in the Tabor-Loris Community.

     Stability is most common, a pair of Christmas parades this week, Saturday morning gatherings, and more on tap.

     Change includes the line-up location for Tabor City’s Christmas Parade Under the Lights, kicking off this week’s Yule events tomorrow (Thursday) evening.

     Ongoing construction at Tabor City School makes Stake Road, the usual line-up location for the downtown parade, less than ideal. So, more than 100 entries will stretch down East 5^th Street, to the east, for the line-up, said Tabor City Police Chief Donald Dowless.

     Organizers at the Greater Tabor City Chamber of Commerce are also putting a renewed emphasis on the second annual Christmas Cookie Crawl set for Friday, Dec. 9. It’s described as “a family-friendly community event where you pay a small fee to receive an empty box with a list of participating merchants, and then go to local businesses and fill your box with cookies.”

     A Live Nativity production this weekend has also been added to our list of local holiday activities.

     Those events include:

Tabor City

• Parade – Stepping off at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, the parade line-up will wind downtown, ending on North Main Street near the new Tabor City Community Building and the Tabor City Public Library. Call 910-653-3149 or 910-653-3141 to enter.
• Tree Lighting – Immediately following the parade, at about 7 p.m., the annual ceremony will take place at The Town Gate and the Tabor City Public Library, in the shadow of the Community Center. Santa will be on hand to visit with the children, and refreshments will be sold. That schedule includes introductions of visiting pageant royalty at 7, followed by a performance by the SCHS Marching Stallions Band, the Stallion Mane Attraction Choral Ensemble, Yam Festival Queen Alyssa Strickland, Young Miss Yam Festival Perry Pearl Sunyae Kim, and Carolina Extreme Martial Arts “Team Extreme” members.
• Live Nativity – Forest Lawn Baptist Church will host this event from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 4.
• Pancakes & Pajamas with Santa – An event of The Todd House Wedding & Event Center, this popular event set for Saturday, Dec. 3, sold out within 24 hours of being announced in October, center manager Pam Byrd said. Some 200 children will enjoy breakfast, crafts, photos with Santa availability, and Mrs. Claus reading the Oliver series on sale now at 2 Broke Teachers. Photos with Santa will be available for those not attending the breakfast, the cost $5 at the door.
• Cookie Crawl – Tickets have been on sale since Nov. 28, for the second annual Cookie Crawl. At just $5, the tickets cover a box to put Christmas cookies in during the crawl, an opportunity to visit participating merchants beginning at 3 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9. Three lucky cookie boxes will be available. What does that mean? “You will know it when you see it,” a flyer for the event said. While the Cookie Crawl ends at 7 p.m., organizers note that many banks and retail businesses downtown earlier.
• Trim A Tree contest – There’s still time for merchants to sign-up for the annual contest, just call 910-377-3012 to enter. Judging is set for 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 14. Chamber leaders are also encouraging businesses to decorate storefront windows with clear lights “in an effort to make Tabor City truly shine bright as a Twinkle Town should,” a promotional flyer said.
• Christmas at the Lake – Another flotilla on the waters at Lake Tabor begins with registration at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17, the flotilla at 6 p.m. if there are enough entries – and Mother Nature cooperates. Santa, the Grinch, and Cindy Lou Who are expected. Hot dogs and other refreshments will be sold.

Loris

     Something for everyone is promised through events sponsored by the Loris Chamber of Commerce and City of Loris, Chamber Executive Director Samantha Norris said.

     “We are planning events that the entire family can enjoy,” Norris said. “A huge nativity scene that’s more than 20 feet high has been added to the downtown holiday light experience and we hope everyone comes out to enjoy the festivities.”

• Tree lighting – Mayor Todd Harrelson will officiate the tree lighting ceremony at Courtyard on Main at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2.
• Christmas parade – Stepping off at 7 p.m. Friday, the parade line-up must be complete by 6:30 p.m. on near Loris First Baptist Church on Main Street. Float rentals are $400 with sponsorships splits allowed, up to three businesses or church names on each side. Parade details and applications may be found at lorischamber.com. Those interested in sponsoring a float should call Norris at 843-756-6030.
• Breakfast with the Grinch – Sponsored again by the City of Loris, this event will begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 3 at the newly renovated State Theatre on Main Street. Tickets are $10, with Mr. and Mrs. Santa Clause rumored to attend. Contact Norris at the Chamber for details.

Tabor-Loris Community

• A Small Town Christmas – Reclaim Ministries, led by Anne Jernigan, brings holiday performances back to the TLC for the first time since 2019 with Christmas week performances in both communities. First at recently renovated State Theatre on Main Street in Loris, the 6:30 p.m. performance will take place on Monday, Dec. 19. Performing the next night at The Todd House Wedding & Event Center in Tabor City, the performance will begin inside, with an intermission for refreshments, then the singing will resume in the courtyard. Hors d’oeuvres will be served at 6 p.m. in both locations, ahead of the performances. – tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com, tribjenn@tabor-loris.com