Organizers of Greenwood’s annual holiday festivities that were supposed to begin tonight have canceled or scaled them back due to approaching wet and potentially icy weather.
The Leflore County Courthouse lighting ceremony, scheduled for 5:30 tonight, has been canceled. The outdoor showing in downtown Greenwood of the holiday movie “Arthur Christmas,” originally scheduled for 6:45 p.m., will be held at a later date in the next two weeks.
Alternate plans also have been made for the 78th annual Roy Martin Delta Band Festival and Christmas Parade depending on weather conditions Friday.
Leflore County is under a winter storm watch for Friday afternoon and evening, with the possibility of freezing rain in the forecast.
Plan A will allow for all floats scheduled for the parade to be on display at the Leflore County Agri-Center.
The Greenwood-Leflore County Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the parade, has recommended that all float participants move their floats to the Agri-Center by this afternoon.
The Agri-Center is already the new venue for the iceless skating rink, which will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
All bands, beauties, mascots, the parade marshal, elected officials and Santa Claus will be at the Leflore County Civic Center beginning at 3 p.m. Friday.
Weather permitting, the fireworks display will still take place near the Yazoo River downtown after dark.
Plan B calls for parade officials to meet again at 1 p.m. Friday to assess the progress of the storm. If the weather breaks, they will then make the call to proceed with the parade as planned at 4 p.m.
Troy Brown, director of the Greenwood-Leflore Emergency Management Agency, said that from the weather models he’s seen, the worst of the wintry precipitation is expected to hit Greenwood just as the parade gets under way. He advises, if the parade goes forward, that people dress for wind, rain and cold temperatures.
Marty Pope, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said that by Friday afternoon there’s a good chance Greenwood could see up to one-fourth of an inch of ice.
- Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
