The sights and sounds of Christmas are upon us. This Saturday, Laurel, Ellisville and Sandersville will host their respective Christmas parades and the lights will shine once again on Mason Park.

Steve Thrash, treasurer of the Sertoma Club, which puts on the Laurel parade, said this year’s event will be one in the largest in recent memory. The 2009 Sertoma Club Christmas parade will begin at 10 a.m.

“We have over 155 entries signed up,” he said. “That includes new people, and we’ve got a lot of floats this year. What we’ve tried to strive for is increasing the number of floats, not just having vehicles in the parade.”

Thrash noted that there is a lot of “hectic excitement” in the air as the days near to this year’s parade.

“There’s a lot of anticipation for Christmas , and it sounds like the weather may give us a hint too,” he said. “Santa Claus, which belongs to us, is the last float of the parade. We distribute over 600 pounds worth of candy every year to the crowd.”

Thrash said this year’s parade, which is themed “The Perfect Gift,” will follow its usual route throughout downtown Laurel and back to the Sawmill Square Mall, one of this year’s sponsors. Other sponsors include the Jones County Economic Development Authority, the City of Laurel, Jones County Board of Supervisors and the Laurel Leader-Call.

Another popular parade in the area is the Ellisville Christmas parade, which follows the Sertoma event at around 2 p.m.

Geni James, who is directing this year’s Ellisville parade, said the Ellisville State School plays a big part in the annual festivities.

“The parade always begins at the State School with Santa Claus giving the clients a stuffed animal,” she said. “I’m always amazed at those little faces.”

James said the parade, which this year includes nearly 90 entries, will advance to the Jones County Junior College Fine Arts Building after leaving the Ellisville State School.

“We always have a good parade, and have a good time with it,” she said. “We don’t have an entry fee. We do a lot of it for the State School and the clients down there that don’t have anything.”

James said kids will also be able to get their pictures taken with Santa Claus and this year’s added attraction, Spongebob Squarepants. Pictures will taken in the park near Community Bank, and an 18-foot slide will also be set up if weather permits.

The Ellisville Christmas parade will be themed “All the Sights and Sounds of Christmas,” with awards going both to floats and cars/trucks that are decorated.

“Some of our entries from Jones are worked on for over three months,” James added.

The days of parades will conclude at 6 p.m. Saturday with the Sandersville Christmas parade, which starts at the Dollar General, located at 600 S. Front Highway 11 in Sandersville.

John Bounds, who organized this year’s parade, said entries “usually stretch throughout the whole town.”

“There are a lot of hometown people in it, and some Indians from the Indian reservation,” he said. “We usually have a few people participating from Laurel.”

Bounds said the Sandersville parade, which this year is themed “Country Christmas,” has been going on as long as he can remember.

“It’s always a lot of fun, lots of candy and Santa Claus,” he said. “It’s always a pretty good little parade.”

But, parades are not the only attraction in Laurel Saturday.

The Kiwanis Pancake Day has almost become synonymous with Christmas, as it held annually on the same morning as the Sertoma Christmas parade.

Ben Cole, president of the Laurel Kiwanis Club, said Pancake Day has become a long-standing tradition in the City Beautiful.

“This year, we’ve got two locations — the YWCO and First Baptist Church,” he said. “We’ll be serving from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. at both locations. The goal is to raise funds with proceeds going to scholarships for area high school students. The money is divided up evenly among the four Key Clubs at the high schools. They always serve with us on Pancake Day.”

Cole noted that the Kiwanis Pancake Day is “always a very festive time.”

“We’re always proud to serve and spread Christmas cheer,” he said. “Then, it’s off to the parade.”

According to the club’s motto, “Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time.”

Tickets for Pancake Day are $5 in advance and $6 at the door. Tickets can be purchased from any Kiwanis Club member or at The Diamond Shop, Inc., located at 528 N. 15th Ave. For more information, call 601-649-1161.

As part of Pancake Day at First Baptist Church, located at , members of the Women’s Ministry Union will be selling copies of their 2009 cookbook.

Genny Wallace, publicity chairman, said sales of the cookbook benefit the church’s Ministry Missions Circle Group. A limited amount of the cookbooks are available for sale at $15.

Perhaps the most anticipated event of the Christmas season are the lights at Mason Park, which have been a cherished tradition for more than a decade.

Barbara Tillery, who leads the volunteers in setting up the lights, said more than 250,000 lights have been added over 12 acres at Mason Park this year.

“It’s all volunteer, just a little ragtag group of us,” she said. “We do it out of love every year. It started as a small little display in 1996 and started really growing in 1998 from a donor in Ellisville. He gave us the bulk of his collection. Of course, we’ve totally rewrapped everything.”

While Mason Park will be lit Saturday evening, Tillery said lights will continue to be added after the fact.

“There is a display with two bears tossing balls to each other,” she said. “We’re totally reworking it and hope to have it out by next weekend. We’re not making any promises”

What is promised is that area residents taking in Saturday’s festivities will be in the Christmas spirit when the day is over.