With Christmas right around the corner, many things are coming to the community. The annual Christmas Parade held in downtown Orange will be Friday, Dec 5 starting at 6:30 p.m. Following the parade on the next day (Saturday, Dec 6), at Little Cypress Elementary School there will be the second annual “Beary” Merry Christmas Market (BMCM). The “Breakfast with Santa” starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 10 a.m and the Market will be open and run until 3 p.m.

Every year the city of Orange puts on a community parade to celebrate the Christmas holiday. There are many organizations that participate in the parade such as, the LCM Band and Drill Team along with the Deweyville band, community boy scouts, the police and fire department and different churches. The parade starts at the parking lot across the street from La Cantina and ends by the Orange Public Library. The floats and other participants in the parade will be judged in front of City Hall to see who the best is.

According to Rossie Hughes, who is in charge of this event, there was a huge turnout and the “Breakfast with Santa” for the little ones sold out last year and it appears to have the same outcome, if not higher, this year.

“There are between 30 and 40 vendors selling jewelry, fudge, skin products, hand crafted items, our Sweet Shop filled with homemade goodies to purchase, and much, much more,” she said.

There will be many  things for the customers to do, from Painting With a Twist (which was a huge hit last year) to a “Chinese Auction.” There is also a Christmas store for kids to buy presents that are $10 or less for their family members.

“At the end of the day, one ticket will be drawn from each bucket and the holder of the ticket gets the item,” Hughes said. “You can out a ticket in each bucket, or put all of your tickets in one bucket to increase your chances of winning the thing you want the most.”

Hughes said that the BMCM was set up as a fundraiser for the foundation, which provides grants to teachers throughout the LCM District. In the past twelve years, The Education Foundation, Inc. or Board of Foundation has given out 116 grants, totaling just under $142,000.

“The grants have funded materials for science experiments, trips to locations such as the Holocaust Museum in Houston, whiteboards and other technical equipment, enrichment materials to help struggling students, power tools for building trades, and choir risers to name a few,” she said.