History

A Fayetteville Holiday Tradition since 1999

When a member of the Fayetteville Rotary Club learned that there was not going to be a Christmas Parade in 1999, he approached his club and the other two Rotary Clubs in Fayetteville at the time, suggesting that this would be an excellent Community Service Project. The clubs agreed and banded together to insure Fayetteville would continue to have a Christmas Parade.

The Rotarians were fortunate that one of their members, Greg Gunn, had helped with a Christmas Parade in another city, he agreed to chair the parade. When his job took him to another city the following year, Johnson Chestnutt and Matthew Smith agreed to co-chair the Parade.  With the passing of Johnson in 2017, it was determined that Matthew needed some assistance with the parade at the Rotary Christmas Parade Committee was established.

One of the goals set by the committee is to bring in aa Grand Marshal that the children of Fayetteville can look to for inspiration.  An individual that children can relate to, someone who presents good moral character and who parents would not be displeased to see their child emulate.

The Rotarians are very appreciative of the support they have been given by the community. The first Rotary Christmas Parade had about 50 entries; that has now grown to 110-120 units with some coming from out of state. Support from the business community has been a blessing.