Rotary plans Christmas Eve Parade in Fairfield

FAIRFIELD – The Rotary Club of Fairfield will host its 97th Christmas Eve Parade Tuesday, Dec. 24.

The club is coming up on a historic milestone, its 100th anniversary in 2020. It has hosted a Christmas Eve Parade every year of its existence, save for two years it did not hold one during World War II. It's one of if not the oldest tradition in Fairfield.

Per custom, the parade will start at the Iowa National Guard Armory, 1501 W. Stone Ave., at 5 p.m. It will travel all around town (full route listed below) before ending its journey at Fairfield's Central Park between 6-6:15 p.m. Santa will park his sleigh on the west side of the square, and welcome children to sit with him, give them their Christmas wish list, and make one final pitch to be on his 'Nice” list. Children will also get a bag of goodies to take home. Santa will entertain visitors until 7:15 p.m.

Santa's sleigh is mounted on a John Deere tractor donated by Sinclair. On the front of the tractor is a loader where Santa's reindeer – led by red-nosed Rudolph – are mounted. The sleigh is mounted on a wagon frame, which the sleigh mostly hides. Children of Rotarians, plus the members of Rotaract and Interact (organizations for young Rotarians) dress as elves and pass out candy throughout the parade.

Joining Santa and the elves will be a group of carolers. This year, the Chamber Singers of Southeast Iowa will lend their voices to the parade of four floats supporting Santa's sleigh. One of the floats will contain church bells, and quite large ones at that, measuring 12-14 inches in diameter.

Rotary member Linn Cornick, who co-chairs the parade with fellow Rotarian Dave Reiff, said it's great to see people come out to the side of the road to listen to the carolers and wave to Santa.

'We have a good group of people in cars at the parking lot of True Value waiting for us,” Cornick said.

This year, Santa's special helper will be Kevin Frisbie. Last year, it was Mayor Ed Malloy.

Rotarian Colleen Stone said she's thankful that Rotary has connections with the armory, which allows the club to assemble their sleigh and other floats.

'We need a big indoor space to put this thing together,” Stone said.

The Union asked Stone why she helps with the Christmas Eve Parade.

'It's an amazing tradition going back 100 years,” she said. 'My husband and I both want to be part of that tradition.”

Stone said there was nothing like this ceremony where she grew up in South Africa. South Africa has a mild, Mediterranean climate.

'For my Christmas, we never had snow. We had a barbecue around the pool. We'd be outdoors in the sun,” she said. 'Here, Christmas is dark and cold with music and carols. It's very charming.”

Stone said that when she started helping with the Christmas Eve Parade four years ago, she noticed how much tradition was tied into all the floats. Rotary recently updated all the lights on the floats, but before that it was using lights that were many years old.

'We slowly go through it and throw stuff we don't need anymore,” Stone said.

Santa's route that evening:

' Start at 1501 West Stone Avenue Iowa Army National Guard Facility North Parking Lot

' Turn West on West Stone Avenue to North 23rd Street

' Turn South on North 23rd Street to West Grimes Avenue

' Turn East on West Grimes Avenue to North 22nd Street

' Turn South on North 22nd Street to West Burlington Avenue

' Turn East on West Burlington Avenue to 6th Street

' Turn South on South 6th Street to West Adams Avenue

' Turn East on West Adams Avenue to Maple Street

' Turn South on South Maple Street to Madison Avenue

' Turn North on South Highland Street to Burlington Avenue

' Turn West on East Burlington Avenue to 'D” Street

' Turn North on North 'D” Street to Broadway Avenue

' Turn West on East Broadway Avenue to Court Street

' Turn South on South Court Street to Burlington Avenue

' Turn West on Burlington Avenue to Main Street

' Turn North on North Main Street stop at the middle entrance to Central Park