Who: Larry Ayscue
What: Alert Christmas Parade
When: Saturday, December 13 at 2 p.m. but come about an hour earlier if you want to be IN THE PARADE.
Where: “A-lert,” the community that’s just over the Franklin/Vance County line beyond Epsom, near the intersection of Alert and Jordan School roads.
Additional Details: Good old-fashioned entertainment. Larry Ayscue is one of this year’s parade organizers, but he also is credited with being the original organizer of that first parade 35 years ago. He told WIZS back in 2024, “I would love to get the word out, just come and see it – check it out and see what you think of it,” he said on WIZS TownTalk last year. Unlike Christmas parades that are held inside town or city limits, Alert’s parade isn’t fettered by rules and regulations. “Alert is not a town,” Ayscue said. “I always tell people, don’t come expecting a town – it’s just a little community.” No forms to fill out, no official lineup to follow translates into good, old-fashioned fun, with “a lot of hollering, wavin’ and carrying on,” he said. “We’ve had people to tell us that they’d rather be in that parade than any other one they’ve ever been in,” he added. “It’s just a lot of fun.” For more information, call 252.343.9275.
