Our annual Oxford Christmas Parade was everything we hoped, and more.

The community was shining brightly, parading down the otherwise dark streets of town.

We appreciate the marching bands from Ole Miss, Lafayette and Oxford delivering great sounds. We appreciated everyone from the Boy Scouts to local businesses and others marching, building and riding on floats, and spreading cheer throughout our community.

We also appreciate that we are proud to proclaim the annual event as the Christmas parade.

The celebration and coming together of community lifts up the gift that Christians rejoice, the birth of Christ.

You have heard the old cliché: Remember the reason for the season.

And that’s our simple message of the day. Remember the reason for the season.

We have so many blessings as individuals, organizations and as a community. That gives us a unique opportunity to make this Christmas season extra special, by doing a kind act for another and spreading cheer.

We want to shop Oxford because keeping dollars at home helps more people in this community. We want to lend helping hands because helping hands can make more of a difference in people’s lives than we can imagine.

And, we want to celebrate the gifts that we have, together.

The Christmas season is a special time. Let’s let our community continue to shine.