Santa Claus making his rounds today

Queen Street in downtown Kinston will feature Christmas parade floats for the whole family to enjoy this morning.

The annual event will begin at 10 a.m. as nearly 120 parade participants leave Grainger Stadium and head to Queen Street. It will certainly feel a lot like Christmas as temperatures attempt to recover from overnight lows in the upper 20s.

There are no chances of rain during the parade, which should last until about 11 a.m. parade director Tim Knobeloch, who is also the Kinston/ Lenoir County Parks and Recreation supervisor, said Santa Claus will make an appearance during the parade.

“It’s going to be chilly, but hopefully the rain will hold off,” Knobeloch said.

After the Kinston parade, several of the participants will head to Caswell Center where they will be among a parade processional at the center. According to parade officials, there will be about the same number of floats this year, as compared to last year on Queen Street.

Snow Hill will also get into a festive spirit today. The town’s Christmas parade was postponed from last weekend to 2 p.m. today because of rain. The Snow Hill Rotary Club is sponsoring this year’s parade, which will begin near Snow Hill Primary School.

“It was the first time in history that our parade was postponed,” Snow Hill parade organizer Christie Mozingo said.

About 70 participants are expected in the Snow Hill parade. Mozingo said the parade’s route will take floats down Green Street, East Fourth Street, Southeast Third Street and end where it started at Snow Hill Primary School.

Chris Lavender can be reached at 252-559-1078 or clavender@freedomenc.com.