Sunday's annual Sertoma Christmas Parade in North Little Rock will have to deviate from its usual ending of ceremoniously lighting the city's official Christmas tree.
The parade begins at 2 p.m. Sunday on Pershing Boulevard and will travel south on Main Street into downtown.
The Christmas tree showed up north of its usual spot this week, already lighted, across from the Argenta Community Theater, 405 Main St.
Mayor Joe Smith told the City Council on Monday that the Christmas tree site was moved to a parking lot in the 400 block of Main Street, and the tree was lighted early to allow the Argenta Community Theater to incorporate it into its presentation of A Christmas Carol.
The Northern Lights Festival, held immediately after the parade for each of the past three years outside the City Services Building, 120 Main St., also won't happen this year. The event was centered on the tree and included photos with Santa Claus, booths and live music.
There will be an open house, free to the public, at the North Little Rock History Commission's Heritage Center, 506 Main St., starting at 1 p.m., in conjunction with the parade.
The Heritage Center has on display a 12-foot-tall Union Pacific Credit Union Train Tree that features a Lionel model train that winds through the tree.
Metro on 12/02/2017