FAST FACTS
• WHAT: Manteca Chamber of Commerce twilight parade
• WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 5, at 5 p.m.
• WHERE: Downtown Manteca on Yosemite Avenue
• MORE INFO: Call the chamber at 823-6121
Get ready to rock Saturday at 5 p.m. in downtown Manteca.
That’s when the 27th annual Manteca Chamber of Commerce twilight holiday parade themed “Jingle Bell Rock” gets underway.
More than 100 entries are part of this year’s undertaking that is expected to draw in excess of 7,000 people to line Yosemite Avenue from Library Park to Manteca High. The National Weather Service expects Mother Nature to cooperate as the forecast calls for clear skies with enough chill in the air to make Santa – who’ll bring up the rear on a Manteca Fire truck – feel right at home.
“This is our biggest parade ever,” noted Manteca Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Debby Moorhead.
There are a large number that have multiple entries under the same parade unit ranging from auto organizations to horse groups. All entries have lights in keeping with the twilight parade requirements.
More than 100 volunteers helping stage the parade ranging from Community Emergency Response Team, Seniors Helping Area Residents and Police, the Manteca Chamber of Commerce board, to the youth group at the Place of Refuge.
The youth group will clean the streets after the parade. They also are supplying two volunteers to serve as the pooper scooper squad to clean up after equestrian entries.
Helping sponsor the parade this year are Doctors Hospital of Manteca, Financial Center Credit Union, Michael Duffy, Prestige Senior Living at Manteca, The 133 Club, Eddie’s Pizza, Waltman’s Touch of Class, P.L. Fry & Son Funeral Services, B.R. Funsten & Co, Manteca Dental Care, Kaiser, Westwood Villages Apartments, Simplot, Delicato Vineyards, and the Manteca Lions Club.