By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–The 46^th annual Helena Christmas parade is in the books and dozens of individuals and organizations came out to participate in the parade on Saturday, Dec. 3.

Those who entered in the parade were encouraged to go along with the theme, “Put the fire out…Santa’s coming,” as the parade honored the city’s fire department for the outstanding service they provide to Helena residents.

On Monday, Dec. 12, the parade winners were announced and the Christmas parade committee members were recognized at the Helena City Council meeting.

Helena City Councilwoman Alice Lobell said she enjoys the parade every year but pointed out that it takes a lot of work to happen and thanked all the committee members for making the parade a success.

“I hope y’all enjoyed the parade and I’ve looked forward to it for many years,” Lobell said. “I’ve always enjoyed it but it takes a tremendous amount of work just like anything else there’s a lot of behind-the- scenes work.”

The majority of floats in the parade had a variety of colorful signs and messages thanking the Helena Fire Department and the winners of the parade were divided into two categories: The float winners and the performance winners.

The float winners were as follows:

–First place: Sixth grade cheerleaders and football players

–Second place: Fourth grade cheerleaders

–Third place: Kim Cato Realtor

The performance winners were as follows:

–First place: Dance Etc Senior Dance Troupe

–Second place: Helena Middle School cheerleaders

–Third place: Helena Middle School dance team