Drive- thru Christmas parade held at Woodland Christian

Parades scheduled for Saturday and Sunday nights

Woodland Christian School will host a drivethru Christmas parade through Sunday.

David Hargadon, the director of operations and development for Woodland Christian School, said that the school wanted to fill the void of the Woodland Christmas Parade, which was canceled as a way to minimize the spread of COVID19.

“When we heard the Woodland Christmas Parade was cancelled early in November, we looked for a way to bring our community together,” Hargadon said.

The school had conducted a parade on campus for their seniors in June and that was a success, so, they thought, why not put together a parade for the whole community? The only challenge was that the school only had one month to prepare and did not want to add any additional work to the teachers who are already doing so much to educate children during a pandemic.

When the school shared the vision with Dignity Health, they stepped right up to become the main sponsor for this event.

“We want to support this creative, community building event,” said Community Relations Manager for

Dignity Health, Katie Curran. The school will honor the many heroes at Dignity Health by providing employees with a fast- pass lane to get into the parade.

This event will be free and open to the public and is intended to bring joy to a community that is hurting. Families of the same household can drive to the school, enjoy the lights and decorations and be encouraged by numerous joy makers along the route.

“This event would not be possible without the dedication of numerous parents, staff members and volunteers who will be along the parade route,” Hargadon said. “We also had a number of other sponsors and churches step up to assist with the parade.”

Other highlights from the parade include music by the Woodland Christian School Band, a live nativity scene and themed areas decorated by each grade level of the school.

The dates and hours of the parade are:

Saturday: 5 to 6: 30 p. m. Open to families that purchased a spaghetti dinner and Dignity employees. Open to the public from 6: 30 to 9 p. m.

Sunday: 5 to 6: 30 p. m. Open to families that purchased a spaghetti dinner and Dignity employees. Open to the public from 6: 30 to 9 p. m.

Anyone coming to the parade should approach the school coming eastbound on Sports Park Drive from East Street.