Beautancus parade set for Thanksgiving Day
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on November 11, 2005 1:45 PM
Paste a bow on your pick-up truck and come to the Beautancus Holiday Parade on Thanksgiving Day afternoon.
You don't have to pay an entry fee, and you don't even have to apply. Just show up before 2 p.m. for line-up at the sign that will be placed on Beautancus Road near Luby Byrd Road in northern Duplin County. Or if you make up your mind ahead of time, you can call the Beautancus Community Club to reserve a spot.
Participants can ride any type of vehicle or animal, or they can just walk, said club president Austin House.
To let the club know you're coming, call House at 222-2490, Sarah Southerland at 658-5178, Alice Faulk at 658-3611 or Elizabeth Bland 658-9779.
House said organizers hope participants adhere to thte parade's holiday theme and decorate accordingly.
Entries will be judged and the top three will receive ribbons.
This will be the third year since the club started holding the parade again. It had become quite an event during the 1980s and '90s but interest fizzled over the past few years. As many as 5,000 people turned out for the parade in its heyday, House said, and organizers hope to reach that level again. About 1,000 turned out last Thanksgiving, he said.
Members of the family of the late Charles Kornegay will serve as grand marshals for the parade.
Beautancus Road will be closed at 2:30 p.m. between N.C. 403 and Luby Byrd Road for the line-up. Those coming from the north will be detoured onto Norwood Ezzell Road to get to the Beautancus crossroad.
The parade begins at 3 p.m. and lasts about an hour. The route goes three miles south along Beautancus Road to Sugarland Restaurant at the Maysville School Road intersection.