By PHOEBE DONALD ROBINSON/For the Reporter

COLUMBIANA – The 16th Annual Lay Lake Christmas Boat Parade, sponsored by the Lay Lake Homeowners and Boat Owners Association, will be Saturday, Dec. 14.

Last year’s parade had 20 boats with lots of Christmas lights, music, Santa, and was watched by over 3,000 people.

The parade will gather at the mouth of Beeswax Creek at 4:30 p.m. It will circle the Beeswax Public Boat Launch area at 5:15 p.m., where the public can view the parade. The parade will also circle marinas: Paradise Point by 5:50 p.m., Cedar Creek by 6:30 p.m., Okomo Marina at 7 p.m. and Bozo’s Marina at 7:35 p.m. All times are approximate.

If interested in participating in the parade, contact Chair Joe Sullivan at Joe@sullivancomm.com or Facebook at Lay Lake Christmas Boat Parade.

Lay Lake, located on the Coosa River, is a full pool reservoir impounded in 1914 by Alabama Power. Lay Lake’s HOBOs was formed in 1997 with the mission is “to keep Lay Lake a clean, safe and beautiful environment for all living things.”

Judy Jones chairs the organization’s annual cleanup, held in April since 1999. For one week, the five counties that border 12,000 acre Lay Lake – Chilton, Coosa, Shelby, St. Clair and Talladega – focus on cleaning the lake and shoreline.

HOBOs also has a water monitoring team that consistently monitors the lake. Begun in 2000, the team consists of certified volunteers who take samples at different areas of the lake. The monitoring is conducted under the auspices of Alabama Water Watch (AWW) at Auburn University.

Lay Lake HOBOs President Art Giddens attended the Clean Water Initiative in Pell City, a water symposium to discuss water as a valued resource and potential source of dispute among states in the future.

HOBOs’ newest project, which is sponsored in conjunction with Alabama Power Company, is the Osprey Nest Program, which will build six nests in secluded stump areas. John Hicks and Wayne Horton are chairs.

New members are welcome, whether they have a house on the lake, own a boat or just visit the lake. Dues are $25/year and the annual meeting is held in October. Visit Laylakehobo.org.