This weekend’s a two-for-one finale to the County’s Christmas Parade Season. The Lake Placid Downtown Christmas Parade runs tomorrow night around downtown Lake Placid. They expect a good 75 floats, marching units and commercial entries there starting around 7pm on Dal Hall Boulevard, down North Main and back down Interlake Boulevard. Sebring, at the same time, has its annual Boat Parade on Lake Jackson. That starts at Don Jose’s with lineup at 7 – if you’ve "Griswolded" your boat, plan on showing up around 6:30. At least 20 to 30 decorated boats take part in that each year – they make it a point to be visible from all the major beaches, and – of course – from restaurant decks around Lake Jackson.
The Champion For Children Circle Theatre will be jumping tonight with a local tradition onstage. Theatre Manager and local performing star Harry Havery will do the same Christmas Show he’s done for decades for kids in local schools … this time, on stage. Singing, dancing, and general fun. Showtime is 7pm, the show runs a little under an hour. Havery says he’ll do an encore performance on December 17 – next Friday.
Expect road construction season to continue right through the Holiday season – the latest count on road projects from the Florida Department of Transportation lists at least nine projects on Highway 27 alone as it winds through Highlands County in progress over the next week or so. Many – like north of Sun N Lake Boulevard, where a new driveway is being installed – will involve overnight lane closures. Others, like installation of new traffic-sensing electronics on the 14 stoplights to improve timing as the Highway runs through Sebring, will be a work in progress until Spring. Keep an eye peeled as you drive through the County.
The Downtown Sebring Carousel of Lights is a decades old tradition, and the challenge each year is to come up with something new to bring us locals – and customers – downtown. This year, organizers have announced the forecast is for SNOW on December 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th. Starting right at 7:00pm, snowflakes will fall on the park. A machine will produce snow fall at the center of Circle Park and it will fall until the machines run out of solution each night. The forecast is for snow, but the weather looks to be above average in temperature, so early arrivals will get the best view of something you don’t see often – or maybe, never – around here.