One hundred entries signed up to ride, walk, dance or march down Main Street in Laurinburg Sunday as the annual Laurinburg Christmas Parade took place under chilly conditions and overcast skies. Participants lined up along Railroad Street in downtown Laurinburg in a caravan that stretched to the Highway 401 bypass as they waited to begin the 2:30 p.m. event.

Occupying position number 82 in the parade, Boy Scout troop 447 was setup close to the rear of the procession, a fact that seemed to make no difference in the scouts' enthusiasm for the event.

"It all came together in the last week," Cubmaster David Kang said. "All of our float decorations are donations from parents. The hay bales the scouts are sitting on are a donation from J.D. Locklear, the trailer came from Chris Clay, and thankfully, Mr. Carey Ready loaned us his truck."

It was Kang's original intent to pull the float using his own truck in the parade, but fate intervened.

"My truck died yesterday," he said. "We almost had a big problem, but everything worked out fine. The parents made all the difference with the decorations and putting the rank badges on the sides of the float, and we had the kids from the troop leave their ink stained hand prints on the banners that are on each side of the trailer. Next year we're going to plan ahead more and have something even better."

Further up the road in the 32nd position, members of the 139-year old Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church sang songs and danced as they prepared to enter their van to join the procession.

"We do this every year," Assistant Youth Supervisor Carolyn T. Alford said. "We walk in the parade and we sing songs like 'O Give Thanks', 'Silent Night', and whatever else we feel like singing. It's a lot of fun for everybody."

Beginning at 2:30 p.m., the parade traveled south from Railroad Street down Main Street before ending at Plaza Road near the National Guard Armory.

Matt Kendall of the Laurinburg/Scotland County Area Chamber of Commerce called the 2009 Christmas parade a success.

"I thought it went really well," he said. "The important thing was that everyone had fun. From what I've been told the kids had a great time getting candy and seeing some of the characters in the procession. That made it all worth it for everyone."

The parade was led by Laurinburg Chief of Police Johnny Evans in a city police car beside Scotland County Sheriff Shep Jones, who was behind the wheel of a 1962 Ford Galaxie designed to appear as the squad car from the Andy Griffith Show.

One spectator called to Jones as he passed, "You're riding in style now." Waving and smiling, Jones replied, "Don't I know it."

Among the floats were those representing the Karen Gibson School of Dance, Kentucky Fried Chicken, which held a convincing Col. Sanders lookalike, the Rhythm Explosion Clogging Team, the Scotland County Humane Society, and many more, along with horses, motorcycles, step teams, church groups, nonprofits and civic groups.

Two regional celebrities led the parade. Rusty Ray, news anchor and producer for WBTW Channel 13 along with Emmy McLean, the 2010 Miss Greater Sandhills, served as grand co-marshals. The parade concluded with the appearance of none other than Santa Claus himself.

The parade lineup has been posted on the Laurinburg/Scotland County Area Chamber of Commerce website at www.laurinburgchamber.com.