Santa Claus made another DeKalb County appearance Saturday afternoon during the Alexandria Christmas Parade.
An enthusiastic crowd gathered downtown, in spite of colder temperatures and the threat of rain, to experience the sights and sounds of this annual event and to have a chance at winning some prizes.
The Alexandria First Baptist Church won first place and $100 in the float competition and the church’s Mother’s Day Out entry took second place and $75.00. Kevin Bandy, driving a vintage automobile, received third place and $50.

DeKalb County voters will get to choose their preferences in the Tennessee Presidential Primaries on Tuesday, February 5th.
Voters must declare in which primary they will be voting, either Democratic or Republican. You cannot vote in both.
The candidates for President in the Democratic Primary are Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis Kucinich, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson.
Candidates for President in the Republican Primary are Rudy Giuliana, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Alan Keyes, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo, and Fred Thompson.

The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee has awarded $13,083 in grants to DeKalb organizations to help respond to specific needs of the region.
“The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee believes in the present and future of Middle Tennessee and supports DeKalb County organizations working to improve the quality of life in our communities,” said Ellen Lehman, president of The Community Foundation. “The people of Middle Tennessee should be very proud of the extraordinary work being done by local nonprofits addressing a variety of needs from public education and animal welfare to children and seniors.”
Specific discretionary grants include:
Freckles Friends Pet Shelter, Inc. has received a grant to provide spay/neuter services to pets of low-income families in DeKalb County.
New Frontiers Challenge Center has received a grant to provide Internet access and laptop computers to young men in residence.
In partnership with the Tennessee Arts Commission and funded by the Tennessee General Assembly, The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee facilitates two other grant programs – Arts Build Communities and Student Ticket Subsidy.
Arts Build Communities serves to strengthen communities by funding projects that nurture artists, arts organizations, and arts supporters in each of Tennessee’s 95 counties. Those eligible to apply for ABC are tax-exempt nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, public or private educational institutions (K through college), school boards, or governmental agencies.
Friends of the Appalachian Center for Craft of Tennessee has received an Arts Build Communities grant to support artist fees for presenters.
The Student Ticket Subsidy program is designed to ensure that Tennessee’s school-aged children have access to live performance. The program is available to public school students, and the Fund reimburses ticket costs for children in the 40 counties The Community Foundation covers.
Smithville Elementary School has received a Student Ticket Subsidy grant to send 206 students to Art Center of Cannon County.
DeKalb West Elementary School has received a Student Ticket Subsidy grant to send 414 students to Wood & Strings Theatre.
These discretionary, Arts Build Communities and Student Ticket Subsidy grants are part of The Foundation’s annual grant making process that will distribute over $1,301,295 to over 300 nonprofit organizations and schools throughout 36 Middle Tennessee counties.
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee oversees more than 615 charitable funds. In the past sixteen years, The Community Foundation has distributed $320 million to community programs and institutions. Currently, The Community Foundation manages endowment, unrestricted and memorial funds totaling $426million. It is located at 3833 Cleghorn Avenue, # 400, Nashville, Tennessee 37215. For more information, call 615-321-4939 or visit www.cfmt.org.

The DeKalb County Fire Department will receive a $195,957 U.S. Department of Homeland Security vehicle acquisition grant, U.S. Representative Bart Gordon announced.
“Many communities struggle to maintain EMS and firefighting services,” said Gordon, a member of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus. “Even though demands on EMS providers and firefighters have increased tremendously over the years, the resources they depend on to provide their life-savings services have not.
“That’s why Congress initiated the Assistance to Firefighters Program, which is similar to the highly successful COPS program that put more than 100,000 new police officers on the nation’s streets.”
Chief Donny Green said the department will use the funds to purchase a tanker that can haul 2,500 gallons of water. Currently, the only fire truck that covers the entire 305 square miles of DeKalb County is a 1979 converted milk truck.
“The rural parts of DeKalb County don’t have fire hydrants, so we have to haul water to the fire,” Green said. “This will let us be a whole lot more efficient in the county and in providing mutial aid to the surrounding cities and counties.”
The DeKalb County Fire Department’s 11 substations respond to calls from Smithville and Alexandria and DeKalb and Cannon counties.
In addition to improving efficiency, the new fire tanker should help the department recruit and retain volunteers and decrease homeowner insurance rates.
“Just being able to provide water and a safer truck for the firefighters is one part of it,”, Green said. “One of the things insurance looks at is how the fire department hauls water. Part of the homeowner’s premium is based on how local fire protection is rated.”
The tanker will cost nearly $206,000 with DeKalb County providing 5% matching funds.

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant on Thursday at the home of 39 year old Mark (Truck) Robinson on Anthony Avenue in Smithville.
Sheriff Patrick Ray says officers made at least one drug buy from Robinson’s residence and during the search, they found 193 Xanax pills, 203 empty prescription bottles with numerous individuals’ names on them, hemostats, rolling papers, roach clips, syringes, and a pill grinder.
Another individual, 37 year old Walter Redmon of Sparta Highway, Smithville was also at the residence. Sheriff Ray says Redmon was found to have a syringe in his pants pocket.
Robinson is charged with possession of a schedule IV drug (Xanax) for sale and delivery and
possession of drug paraphernalia. His bond is set at $26,500
Redmon is charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and a bond was set at $1,500. Both are scheduled to be in General Sessions Court on January 3rd.
Sheriff Ray says officers seized the cash from Robinson and more arrests are pending.