Christmas parade set for Saturday night

The Eastman Lions Club is proud to recognize Tom Lord, owner of Dairy Queen of Eastman as the Grand Marshall of the Christmas parade. Tom has been a fixture in Eastman for over 44 years, owning the Dairy queen in Eastman since 1973. During his time as owner his restaurant has won numerous awards, most notably for increases in sales. Since 1971, Tom has employed hundreds of local high school students in his restaurant and has also been very generous to our school clubs and sports teams during fundraising events held at the Dairy Queen.

Tom still resides in Dexter Georgia and attends Buckhorn Methodist Church. He graduated from Dexter High School, graduated from Middle Georgia College, holds a Bachelor of Science in Business from Georgia Southern University and holds a Master of Science in Business from Georgia State.

This year the Eastman Lions Club will be holding their annual parade at night. The 2017 Lions Christmas parade is scheduled for December 9th, 2017 at 7:00 P.M. Lineup will begin at 6:00 pm on 2nd Avenue (in front of the Post Office).

There is a $25 fee per entry. Equine units are $25 for the first 15 participants and then $10 for each additional unit of 5 or more. There is no fee for school bands, color guards, police and fire units. All entries, except for horses, should have some sort of lighting since the parade is at night. Plaques are awarded for the 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place floats.

Lion Jamie Sheffield of the Bank of Eastman is chairing the 2017 parade, and checks can be made out to the Eastman Lions Club, PO Box 166, Eastman, Georgia 31023 or turned in to the Eastman/Dodge County Chamber of Commerce. Entry fee must be paid by December 6th. Special thanks to the Chamber for helping promote the parade on their website and helping distribute and collect applications and parade fees.

For safety reasons, entrants will not be allowed to throw candy to parade bystanders, however entrants may handout candy. Proceeds from the parade are used to support local Lions vision projects. Parade applications are available at the Eastman/Dodge County Chamber of Commerce, or any Eastman Lions Club member. Please make your plans now to participate and help the Eastman Lions make the 2017 parade the best!