Bowers to be Grand Marshal at Christmas parade

It's become tradition for Christmas season to officially kick off the first Monday in December in the city of Jackson.

The look and sound of that kickoff will be different this year.

The official lighting of the Christmas tree at City Hall will be at 5:15 p.m. like normal by Mayor Scott Conger as he's joined by his family and distinguished guests for that part of the evening.

Then he and most of that entourage will head toward the Carl Perkins Civic Center, which is where the Jackson Christmas Parade begins and ends.

When the parade is near completion, local media personality Steve Bowers will be the one those lining the parade route will see as the Grand Marshal.

"It will certainly be different for me, that's for sure," Bowers said during an interview at City Hall on Monday. "I've spent so many years covering the parade and helping plan the parade, but I never thought I'd be grand marshal."

Bowers is the communications coordinator for Jackson Energy Authority. He also co-hosts the local television talk show 6 In The City on E+TV6 with Cassandra Fuller. He and Fuller have been the broadcasters for the parade for the past few years, so he will move from his broadcasting seat to having a seat in the parade, sitting next to his wife Pam waving at the people of Jackson.

Tony Black, the parks and recreation director for the City, said the theme of the parade will be "Connecting the Community through Christmas."

"That sounds like a good theme to have during a year like this year," Black said. "Because there's so much division right now in our country, but Jackson has typically been a place where we stick together even if we disagree politically or ideologically.

"But what better way to bring people back together than through the Christmas season?"

After the tree lighting at City Hall, the parade will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 2.

Registration to be a part of the parade is open through Nov. 22. Log onto connect.jacksontn.gov to find the link to register a float.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news