Final determination, Clayton Christmas Parade has been canceled

Now that the weekend is finally upon us and forecasters can make a more accurate prediction on the upcoming winter storm, the Rabun County Chamber of Commerce has canceled the Anual Clayton Christmas Parade and will not be rescheduling it.

According to Parade Chairman Carl Butler who remained optimistic about the weather throughout the week, after chamber members discussed details with the Clayton Police Department and Rabun County Emergency Management Agency, the freezing rain mix expected Saturday is too much of a hazard for the show to go on.

“We don’t want to tie up law enforcement who have other duties when there’s bad weather,” Butler said. “We do appreciate everyone who built a float and planned on participating in the parade and we apologize for the inconvenience. We will try again next year.”

Butler said there will be no alternative date for the parade this year as “we are just too far into the Christmas season now.”

“It [parade] has been canceled completely. We feel like we are too far into the Christmas season now,” Butler said. “We checked the weather for next weekend and it doesn’t look too promising either. So, we just went ahead and canceled the parade for this year.”