atlanta christmas parade

Clanton's vehicle will be moving at a slower pace than usual on Sunday.

The 35-year-old NASCAR driver will be coming from his Tyrone home to Haralson on Sunday. He will be the grand marshal for the town's first Christmas parade. The small town is located in southeast Coweta along Georgia Highway 85. A portion of the town is in Meriwether County.

Eric Spencer, one of the organizers of the Haralson parade, already has dreams and plans for future parades and Christmas celebrations in Haralson. Last year, the town had a Christmas tree lighting program, and the parade will add to the festivities this year.

Parade participants will line up on Shaddix Road on Sunday afternoon. Spencer said the parade will begin at 5 p.m. ― winding its way through town and ending on Magnolia Street.

NASCAR driver Joey Clanton, who lives in Tyrone, will be coming to Haralson to be grand marshal in the parade, which will start at 5 p.m.

The Clanton and Spencer families have known each other for years. Joey Clanton comes from a racing background. His father was legendary dirt track racer Billy Clanton.

Joey Clanton has been at racetracks and working on cars as long as he can remember. He began racing at age 16 ― pushing cars on dirt tracks in Georgia and neighboring Alabama. In 1992, he began competing in the Late Model Stock Car class at the local asphalt tracks. With experience in the Late Model Stock class, Clanton decided to make the move to the Super Late Model class during the 1994 season.

During his first year of Super Late Model racing, Clanton won the Memorial Day 100 at Senoia Raceway. He had several top-five finishes that same year.

Two years later, Clanton brought home second place in season points, along with six wins and 19 top-five finishes. Also in 1996, he scored two top-five finishes in the Southern All Star Series.

For the next two years, Clanton traveled to various tracks throughout the Southeast, winning two races per year in the Southern All Star Series. In his first opportunity to race at the prestigious Snow Ball Derby held each year in Pensacola, Fla., Clanton finished in the top 10.

Clanton earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, graduating in 1999.
beginning to look a lot like Christmas in towns big and small throughout Middle Georgia.

Why else would Santa be riding on the back of an antique fire truck, as he will Dec. 8 for Bolingbroke's annual Christmas parade?

An informal survey of chamber of commerce offices and city halls across the midstate found more than 25 Christmas parades or similar events are coming up to usher in the season.

A couple of communities have gotten a jump on the rest. Forsyth had its annual Christmas parade and tree lighting the Friday after Thanksgiving. Thomaston held its Victorian Christmas concert on the courthouse lawn Thursday evening, and Telfair County had its parade, from Helena to McRae, last night.

Macon and Milledgeville will have their annual Christmas parades on Sunday afternoons, Milledgeville this Sunday at 3 p.m., and Macon on Dec. 9, also at 3 p.m.

Santa will be very busy today, appearing in 10 events. And next Saturday he'll be almost as busy with seven more parades. Good thing he has those reindeer to fly him from place to place. And maybe that's why he's riding the fire truck in Bolingbroke - to give Prancer, Dancer and all the rest a break. Don't want them worn out before Christmas Eve.

Some communities simply have a parade. Others combine festivals or special shopping days with their events.

Kim Brown, of the Hawkinsville-Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce, said Hawkinsville's downtown merchants will host Hawkinsville Open House today from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m., when the parade of lights begins through downtown.

"And some will be open after the parade. We'll also have a downtown marketplace at the corner of Broad and Lumpkin streets where people will be selling produce and arts and crafts. And some of the schools and other organizations will be having bake sales and other fundraisers."

Santa will be on hand at Batts Drugs, 314 Commerce St., from 1 to 5 p.m. for photos, but you must bring your own camera. And the Hawkinsville Garden Club is hosting a tour of homes from 2 to 6 p.m.

Byron also will feature its downtown merchants with its Downtown Christmas Bazaar today, and the Taste of Ideal festival will be held in the small Macon County town next Saturday from 11:30 a.m. until time for the parade at 2 p.m.

Gray is having three get-in-the-Christmas-spirit events: a parade at 7 p.m. Tuesday; a Hometown Christmas from 4 to 9 p.m. on Dec. 8; and Lights in the Orchard on Dec. 21-23. The parade will have a new route this year, from the Ingles parking lot around Bill Conn Jr. Parkway, then right on Cumslo Road to Jones County High. Construction to put in new storm drainage along U.S. 129 through downtown forced the change. The merchants on Atlanta Road (Ga. 11) will be open for the Hometown Christmas event, and Santa and carolers also will be on hand. A new event is the Lights in the Orchard, in which groups are invited to decorate areas of the pecan orchard next to Gray Elementary School on Cumslo Road.

For history buffs looking for something a little different, Jarrell Plantation Historic Site near Juliette will hold candlelight tours of the old Jarrell homes, decorated for Christmas as they would have been in the 1800s, from 6 to 8 p.m. today. Call (478) 986-5172 for information.

And the Jeff Davis Historic Site near Fitzgerald will have an 1860s

After completing his studies at Georgia Tech, Clanton quickly returned to racing. He competed at such prestigious Southeast tracks as Atlanta Motor Speedway and Lowe's Motor Speedway. In 1999, Clanton claimed victory 17 times. He finished in the top five 22 out of 24 starts.

The next year, Clanton made his rookie debut in the American Speed Association ACDelco Series. He drove the Steve Dale Motorsports No. 83 car for owner Steve Dale. Clanton and his team captured their first win at Memphis Motorsports Park in September and went on to garner the prestigious Pat Schauer Rookie of the Year honors.

In 2001, Clanton and the Steve Dale Motorsports No. 83 earned third place in the points standings, capturing three victories throughout the year at St. Augustine Speedway, South Boston Speedway and Winchester Speedway. Clanton led 944 laps and earned 16 top-10 finishes out of a 20-event season. Two outstanding accomplishments for the 2001 season were leading all 300 laps from start to finish at South Boston Speedway and winning the prestigious Winchester 400.

During the 2002 season, Clanton and the No. 83 team captured the 2002 National Championship title by the closest margin in ASA history, only 1 point. That year was filled with change as Clanton moved to a new shop and selected a new pit crew. He also got a new sponsor, Campfire USA. He ended the season with nine wins ― five consecutively in the opening events to start the year.

Clanton earned five poles and led a series-high 2,077 laps. His lap completion ratio was 97.67 percent, tying for the best in the series.

Clanton set his sights on running in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2003. He ran the No. 27 Brewco Motorsports Pontiac, making 18 starts in the series. With only completing half the season, he finished third in rookie honors and had a best finish of fifth at Pike's Peak Speedway.

After Sunday's parade, a Christmas tree lighting program will be held at the old Haralson School, which now houses town offices and the Community Action for Improvement Head Start program. Santa Claus will be available for visits with children as well as photographs.

Clanton will also be signing autographs following the program.

The program will include the reading of names of Christmas angels placed on the tree. Today is the final day to place orders for angels. Anyone wishing to have an angel put on the tree in honor or memory of someone should contact Spencer at 770-365-9388 as soon as possible.

Coweta County State Court Solicitor Robert Stokely will also speak at the program. The star on the tree will be in memory of Stokely's son, Michael, who was killed in action in Iraq.

Several groups have signed up to prepare floats or to have groups in the parade. The groups include Scoreda Farms, Shannon's Country Store, Haralson Baptist Church, Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church, the Michael Stokely Foundation, Mt. Zion Baptist Church and the city of Haralson.

"There's a possibility of a couple more, but they haven't confirmed," Spencer said.

Clanton and his wife, Brandi, have two children, Christopher and Emily.