Published: December 12, 2008 08:50 pm      

Annual holiday parade today in Vidor

VIDOR — The Christmas spirit has persevered.

The 2008 annual Classic Car Cruise and Tree Lighting event will take place beginning at 2 p.m., today, in the parking lot of Capital One Bank located at 1255 N. Main.

The yearly Classic Car Cruise, which not includes classic and antique cars and some motorcycles, also includes live music by NaNaSha, food and gift vendors and a street dance. This car cruise and street fair is sponsored by the Vidor Merchants Association.

“Originally, we just didn’t know if we could pull this off or not because of the storm,” said Jeannie Andrus of the Vidor Merchants Association. “But we decided this is something everyone needs. People have been through a lot, and this is a great family outing, and it’s free.”

Andrus said a bigger issue with this year’s parade was the construction on Interstate 10 at Main Street in Vidor.

Currently, both turnarounds underneath the Interstate overpass are closed due to construction, so through traffic must utilize the entire intersection.

“That was a big concern, but the Texas Department of Transportation came through for us,” Andrus said. “Instead of closing the intersection, the car parade will stay on the north side of the Interstate. We will just close that stretch of Main Street for a short time so our parade can travel from the bank parking lot to around Crossroads Shopping Center and back.”

Cars will begin lining up at 4 p.m. for the parade, which begins at 5 p.m. NaNaSha will perform from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., and again from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The other portion of the holiday event is the annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Caroling, which is sponsored by the Vidor Independent School District and Vidor Chamber of Commerce.

Each year, choirs comprised of fourth, fifth and sixth grade students from Vidor Elementary, Oak Forest, Pine Forest and Vidor Middle School gather to sing Christmas Carols in front of Compass Bank, next to McDonald’s, on Main Street.

The caroling will begin at 6 p.m. and will be followed by the arrival of Santa Claus, and possibly Mrs. Claus, in an antique car. The tree lighting will take place shortly afterwards.

All attendees of the street fair or tree lighting as asked to bring a canned food item or a new, unwrapped toy.

Canned food items will be donated to the United Christian Care Center, while the new toys will be given to Vidor Police Department for the Blue Santa program.