LUMBERTON, Texas — The Lumberton Chamber of Commerce's annual Christmas parade has been rescheduled to next week after it was cancelled due to Thursday's severe weather threat.
The parade will now be on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2023 after it was originally set to take place on, Nov. 30, according to a Facebook post by the Lumberton Chamber of Commerce.
Rescheduling the parade was made possible by the city, the fire and police departments, the school district and the chamber all working together the post said.
"Safety for our volunteers, parade participants and watching bystanders is our top priority for this event. With the current forecast conditions, we have deemed we cannot safely have the event tomorrow night," Lumberton Chamber of Commerce President Scott Haggard said in a Facebook post announcing the cancellation on Thursday.
Full statement from the Lumberton Chamber of Commerce:
It's with great sorrow that I am notifying you that we will be cancelling the Lumberton Christmas Parade for tomorrow night, November 30th. The most recent weather reports have severe thunderstorm with possible hail and high winds. Safety for our volunteers, parade participants and watching bystanders is our top priority for this event. With the current forecast conditions, we have deemed we cannot safely have the event tomorrow night. This decision was not made in haste, and I appreciate everyone's patience while the executive board deliberated. We are working with all the parties involved to find another date that we can safely put on the event. We understand and appreciate all the time, money and effort our participants put into these floats. If we are unable to find another date that works, we will keep the theme the same for next year. This will hopefully allow anyone to be able to reuse their decorations purchased this year. This is not what we want to do, but unfortunately these are the options we have currently. Please stay tuned for a future date or cancellation. We will work to get this information out as quickly as possible in order to give everyone enough time to plan. We appreciate everyone's patience and understanding as we work through this process.
