Thousands of people descended on downtown Hopkinsville Saturday for the Christmas parade and filled the air with music and Christmas spirit.
It was a busy weekend in Hopkinsville, with the parade, the mini-Pennyrile Polar Express, the Festival of Trees and Skating on the Square all happening downtown. Parks and Recreation Superintendent Tab Brockman says there were around 80 entries in the parade with some truly incredible floats.
He says Skating on the Square, which brought an ice skating experience to downtown using an artificial surface, has been a tremendous success and they have opportunities for people to skate on Sunday.
The Grand Champion of the parade floats was Stewart Richey Construction, second place went to Hopkinsville Community College, with Rogers Group winning Best Business and the Spirit Award claimed by Messengers of Life.
The community Christmas tree was lit, with members of the community counting down together to ring in the Christmas season.
The winners, by ward, of the Hopkinsville Beautification Commission Holiday Decoration Contest were:
Ward 1 winner was Catherine Weston on Summit Street.
Ward 2 was the home of John Collins on Owen Drive
Ward 3 went to Karen Lewis of Sanderson Drive
The winner in ward 4 was Jack and Velma Crawford of Bluebird Court
Ward 5 was claimed by Sam Richardson of Black Oak Court
Ward 6 went to Douglas Scott of Springmont Drive
Ward 7 was the home of Phillip Tillman of Martin Place
The winners in ward 8 were Donald and Starla Abernathy of Lucky Debonair Street
Ward 9 went to Carolyn and Kent Sutton of Cates Street
Ward 10 winners were Steve and Carol Keel on South Main Street
Ward 11 was claimed by Jeff and Jill Radford of Florence Street
Ward 12 was won by Barbara Sholar of South Main Street
The winner of the business division was J. Schrecker Jewelry