No, The Casper Christmas Parade is NOT Changing Its Name to the ‘Lights of December’ Parade
There are currently rumors floating around social media that the Downtown Casper Christmas Parade (sponsored by the Casper Area Chamber of Commerce) is changing its name to the 'Lights of December Parade.'
K2 Radio News can confirm that this is absolutely not the case.
The rumor seems to have started with the creation of the 'Lights of December' Facebook event. The event was showing up on various Casper residents' timeline, leading them to assume it was Casper's parade.
It's not.
The page for the event states that the parade is hosted by 'Holiday Events,' which is based, according to the page, in London.
"All about Christmas in London, the home of Christmas in London, enjoy the festive season in style," the page stated.
So that was the first clue.
The second clue is the fact that event is listed as an 'Online Event.' Obviously, Casper's parade is the real thing, on real streets, with real people.
Still, some people saw the event and a debate immediately sparked.
Last year, the Casper Area Chamber of Commerce took over the parade from the City of Casper and though they made a lot of changes, this was not one of them.
"It's called the 'Chamber of Commerce Downtown Casper Christmas Parade," said Chamber of Commerce Board Member and Christmas Parade organizer Gena Jensen. "I'm not aware of anything else it could be called, at all."
In fact, the Chamber of Commerce recently had their first meeting about this year's parade and they are in the preliminary stages of updating the parade's website.
"We're going to have early registration, we're going to have nominations for theme again, taking suggestions from the public about the theme," Jensen said. "And then the voting is all gonna go through the website again and there will be nominations for judges and for Grand Marshalls."
In short, the event will be very similar to years past.
"The parade is going to be on November 26, still on Small Business Saturday," Jensen said. "We've had the preliminary meetings with the Casper Police Department a couple weeks ago about road closures. Permits have been filed."
The event still feels like it's a ways away, especially considering the fact that we're currently still in the midst of 90 degree weather, but in reality it's only a couple months away and this year, like last year, the Casper Area Chamber of Commerce is committed to putting on the absolute best event that they possibly can.
"We're just now planning, but the public can expect to see 'The Casper Christmas Parade,' brought to you by the Casper Area Chamber of Commerce," Jensen reiterated.
So rest assured, Casper - we can put this rumor to rest. We'll see you in December!