An enthusiastic crowd gathered downtown Alexandria Sunday afternoon for the annual Christmas parade to help kick off the holiday season.
Hundreds turned out to experience the sights and sounds of this annual event and to have a chance at winning some prizes. The honorary Grand Marshal of the parade was Caleb Brown, the young child who was seriously injured after being struck by a large rock on an outing with his family several weeks ago at Fall Creek Falls State Park. Caleb remains hospitalized so family and friends represented him in the Parade.
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The West Main Baptist Church of Alexandria won first place in the float competition. Jesus Loves You Tabernacle took second place and the Malone’s Chapel Baptist Church received third place.
Ronald and Cathy Clayton were winners of the best vintage automobile category for their 1969 Camaro Z-28. Doyle Slager took second place for his 1960 Chevy Impala and Brad Driver received third place for his 1969 Camaro.
In the tractor category, Chris Hale won with his 1952 John Deere MT. Steven Cook received second place for his 1942 Farmall B and Travis Agee took third place for his 1936 John Deere-A.
The parade featured many other vintage cars and trucks, tractors, church floats, horseback riders, the DCHS band, Alexandria Police Chief Mark Collins, Sheriff Patrick Ray, members of the Alexandria city and county fire departments, among others including Santa and Mrs. Claus. Veterans, who rode in the parade, were transported by a trolley borrowed from the town of Watertown.
Deb McCoy and Denise Barrett, organizers of the parade, wish to thank everyone for their participation and attendance and the sponsors for their support.

The Elizabeth Chapel Baptist Church is presenting “The Living Christmas Tree- a Child of Wonder” on Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday, December 11th, 12th, and 15th at 7:00 p.m. each night at the church gymnasium. Christmas music will be presented prior to the featured program at 6:00 p.m. Admission is FREE!

Pastor Bill Robertson said this program is the church’s Christmas gift to the community. “This is our sixth year. This has become a tradition for us. The presentation lasts about an hour. The music is sung from the Christmas tree. There’ll be about sixty five people singing. The lights on the tree flash during the singing which makes the presentation very appealing. Along with the music, there will be a little bit of drama calling your attention to the Christmas story. This is our Christmas gift to the community. We invite everyone to come. We’ll have seating for about 500 or so people. It’ll be very enjoyable.”

DeKalb County students will be heading back to school Monday after taking three days off for Thanksgiving last week.
Students will soon be out of school again. The winter break will be December 20th through December 31st. Friday, December 17th will be the last day students attend before winter break and that will be an abbreviated school day. Students will return after the holidays on Tuesday, January 4th to begin the third nine week session.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Fontanez, Supervisor of Instruction for grades 7-12, reminds students and parents about the upcoming state assessments. “We have our high school state assessments coming up for the first semester. We want to make sure students are prepared and that parents are ready to help their students get prepared for these state assessments.”
“We have our AYP end of course assessments which are mandated by the state that go toward adequate yearly progress on December 7th, 8th, and 9th in the subjects of algebra I, English II, and biology I. These assessments help us to measure our student’s growth and how well they are mastering material.”
“In addition to those AYP end of courses, we have another set of state mandated end of course assessments which will be on the following week in December, in U.S. History and English IX. Additionally, we have finals coming up as the semester closes out prior to Christmas. Those final exams are scheduled to be on December 15th & 16th with the last day of school before the Christmas break on December 17th.”
“We just want to remind everyone to make the necessary preparations for these assessments. Be sure that your student gets enough rest the day prior to these assessments and has adequate preparation.”
“Our annual writing assessments will be held in February in grades 5, 8, & 11.”
“School has been going very well this year. Our students are working hard and our teachers are doing a diligent job and we are so thankful for the community’s support. You send your students prepared each day and we’re so thankful for that.”
The rest of the school calendar is as follows:
Schools will be closed for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday, January 17th and for President’s Day, Monday, February 21st.
Schools will be closed for spring break March 21st-25th and for Good Friday, April 22nd.
Students will not attend on Wednesday, May 25th. That will be an administrative day and all teachers must attend. The last day of school will be Thursday, May 26. That will be an abbreviated school day and report cards will be sent home.
Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held Tuesday, March 15th at DeKalb County High School from 3:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m.
Parent-Teacher Conferences will also be held from 3:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. Thursday, March 17th at DeKalb Middle School, Northside Elementary, Smithville Elementary, and DeKalb West School.
Report cards will be sent home on Thursday, January 6th, and Monday, March 14th.
AYP-EOC/Gateway Testing at DCHS will be Tuesday through Thursday, December 7th-9th and May 3rd-5th at DCHS and a make-up AYP-EOC/Gateway Test will be Friday, December 10th and May 6th.
ACT Test for the 11th grade will be Tuesday, March 8th
Writing Assessment for the 5th, 8th, and 11th grades will be February 1st. Writing Assessment make-up will be February 2nd..
TCAP testing of elementary students will be April 13th-20th
(Stockpile Days) Professional Development/Instructional Days will be held from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on Monday, January 3rd, and Friday, March 18th. Students will not attend on those days.

A “Singing for Toys “will be held Thursday, December 9th at 7:00 p.m. at the DeKalb West School Gym in Liberty featuring the Kingsmen and Right on Time.
Sean Driver, a member of the group “Right on Time” said your admission is a donation of a small toy per person or a large toy per family.
All toys donated will be given to needy children. All children served will also receive a Bible. A love offering will be accepted for the Kingsmen to further their ministry. All churches are urged to participate in the donation effort and provide a list of children who are in need.
For more information, call Chad at 615-563-2423

Smithville Police arrested a local man for public intoxication and drug offenses on Saturday, November 20th after checking out a disturbance complaint at Food Lion.
47 year old James Alton Barrett of East Main Street will be in court December 2nd on charges of public intoxication, simple possession of a schedule VI controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. His bond is $3,500. Officer Matt Farmer was dispatched to Food Lion in answer to a disturbance call and found Barrett leaning against the counter at the cash register trying to buy beer. Barrett had an odor of an alcoholic beverage on his person and he was unsteady on his feet. During a search incident to arrest, police found rolling papers and a schedule VI drug on his person.
23 year old Gilberto Acuna of Foster Road was arrested on Friday, November 19th for driving on a suspended license. Acuna was operating a motor vehicle that was stopped for a traffic violation. A computer check revealed his license were suspended. Officer James Cornelius made the arrest. Bond for Acuna is $1,500 and his court date is December 9th
Anyone having information on any criminal activity is asked to please contact the Smithville Police Department at 597-8210 or the Tip Line at 464-6046.
Any information received that would help Smithville Police solve any criminal offense would be greatly appreciated. All information is confidential

DeKalb County’s jobless rate dropped to 8.8% in October, down from 9.1% in September and nearly two percentage points below the 10.7% rate in October, 2009.
The local labor force for October was 9,880. A total of 9,000 were employed and 870 were without work.
DeKalb County’s jobless rate for the month was third lowest in the fourteen county Upper Cumberland region. Here’s how they rank from highest to lowest:
Pickett County-13%
Clay- 11.4%
White-11.4%
Fentress- 10.5%
Warren- 10.5%
Jackson- 10.4%
Van Buren 10.3%
Cannon- 9.7%
Macon- 9.7%
Cumberland-9.3%
Overton- 9.3%
DeKalb- 8.8%
Putnam- 8.4%
Smith- 7.9%
Tennessee’s unemployment rate for October was 9.4 percent, unchanged from the September rate. The national unemployment rate for October 2010 was 9.6 percent, unchanged from the September rate.
County non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for October 2010, show that the rate decreased in 43 counties, increased in 38 counties and remained the same in 14 counties.
Lincoln County registered the state’s lowest county unemployment rate at 6.1 percent, up from the September rate of 6.0 percent. Scott County had the state’s highest unemployment rate at 19.0 percent, down from 19.8 percent in the previous month, followed by Marshall County at 15.5 percent, down from the September rate of 15.6 percent.
Knox County had the state’s lowest major metropolitan rate of 7.0 percent, down from 7.1 percent in September. Hamilton County was 7.8 percent, unchanged from the previous month. Davidson County was 8.7 percent, down from 9.1 percent, and Shelby County was 9.8 percent, up one-tenth of a percentage point from September.

Alexandria will host the first Christmas parade of the season in DeKalb County this Sunday, November 28th.
As always, the parade is expected to feature a variety of creative floats, farm tractors, vintage automobiles, all terrain vehicles, horseback riders, and Santa Claus. Caleb Brown will be the honorary Grand Marshal and his family and friends will represent him in the parade.
Alexandria Mayor Ria Baker said this year’s parade will also pay tribute to veterans. “The city has borrowed the Watertown trolley to use in the parade to honor the veterans. Please encourage everyone you know who is a veteran to ride. We will load everyone (veterans) at city hall on this Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m., then drive out to the lineup from there. Dwayne Cantrell has agreed to drive the trolley. This is for all veterans of any age who have served our country.”
The parade will line-up at 2:00 p.m. and get underway at 3:00 p.m.
All entries are welcome and anyone under age 16 must have an adult to accompany them in the parade. Prizes will be given away on the square after the parade. Crafts and food booths are welcome to set up on or around the square.
For more information, contact Deb McCoy at 615-948-6486, Denise Barrett at 615-948-4829, or the Alexandria City Hall at 529-2171.
Meanwhile the Smithville Christmas Parade is set for Saturday, December 4th, sponsored by the Smithville Volunteer Fire Department. The parade will line-up at 11:00 a.m. at Smithville Elementary School and depart at 1:00 p.m. The deadline to enter the parade is Thursday, December 2nd . For more information call Jeff Wright at 597-6750 or John Poss at 597-1135
The Liberty Christmas Parade will be held Sunday, December 5th. Line up begins at 1:00 p.m in front of Salem Baptist Church and the parade will get underway at 2:00 p.m. For more information call (615) 536-5101.