ELBERTA - The Town of Elberta has recently updated the parade route for future events, which will begin during the Elberta High School Homecoming parade on Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. The revised route will be shorter along Highway 98, and will also make the ending mark easier for parade participates to return to the starting spot to collect vehicles or regroup.

“The lineup will be behind the high school, and then we’ll travel south to Highway 98,” said councilmember Vicky Norris. “Only one block will be on 98, and then we’ll travel north on 83 to Oak Street which is right there at Saint Mark’s Lutheran Church.”

A new signup form has also been created, which now requires driver’s license and insurance information up front.

“The reason for the route change is to help with traffic flow,” said Norris. “It will help reduce drivers getting stuck and not being able to get anywhere. This opens up roadways so there should be no more bottlenecking through town.”

Norris states the new route also gives options to the town in the future were the parade to become too long that it began intersecting with itself. Though that is not a present concern with the new route, if it were to become a problem in the future Norris believes there would be easy solutions afforded by the parade changes to alter the route.

Though the town does accept last-minute signups for parade entries, it is encouraged that anyone wishing to participate in any of Elberta’s parades fill out the parade form in advance and submit it to Town Hall for processing, where the forms can be picked up. Lineup is always 30 minutes prior to rolling.

Dates for upcoming Elberta parades are as follows: Oct. 17 at 6 p.m. for Elberta High School Homecoming parade; Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. for Veteran’s Day parade; Dec. 14 at 5 p.m. for Christmas, Tree Lighting, and Movies; and Feb. 22, 2020 at 2 p.m. for Mardi Gras parade.

For more information on Elberta’s parades, contact Vicky Norris at 251-232-5393, Alma Doege at 251-979-6607, or Victoria Klein at Town Hall at 251-986-5995, or visit Elberta’s website at townofelberta.com.