News

Mummers parade back for 75th time

The South Williamsport Area Mummers Inc. will be having its 75th parade on Saturday, Oct. 15, beginning at 2 p.m.

The parade event, which begins on East Central Avenue in South Williamsport, will include live music, games, bounce house, circus performers, snacks and more.

"We're celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Mummers Parade. We have a lot of really special things planned," said Dori Rankinen, Mummers Parade coordinator.

"To finish the parade, we'll be going down to South Side Park for a celebration. We're going to be having bounce houses and games. There's no charge for those things," Rankinen said.

The event will also have cotton candy and kettle corn available for $1 each.

"We want people to be able to come especially with where the economy is, have a great time, celebrate the community and not have to really stretch their pocketbook," Rankinen said.

Rankinen noted that COVID-19, poor weather and World War II led to a few cancelled years and that this is the first time in two years that the parade will be put on.

"Unfortunately, we had a pause with the COVID-19 pandemic and the governor shutting down the state. Then last year, unfortunately Mother Nature decided not to be kind to us. We had lots of rain and wind gusts," Rankinen said.

There will be live music performances by a handful of local bands.

"We will have all of the old

favorites that people love: the high school bands, The Swinging Sagging Seniors are coming out of retirement for one last parade," Rankinen said.

"We also found some circus performers that will be doing some things throughout the parade. They will be coming down, and they'll be doing a fire juggling act," Rankinen said.

"The Moose Family Lodge from South Williamsport will be providing a really important public service -- they're going to do a child ID program where they fingerprint children and take a picture and important information like height, weight, so on and so forth. They put it on a flash drive to give to the parents. Absolutely free," Rankinen said.

At the end of the night, there will be a fireworks display, sponsored by Geisinger.

"People are excited for the parade. Be kind to each other and remember that we're supposed to be having fun," Rankinen said.

Sponsors for the event include The Muncy Bank & Trust, Geisinger, South Williamsport Borough, Woodlands Bank, C & N Bank, Lycoming Chamber of Commerce, JSSB, Freedom Towing and South Side Restaurant, Pizzeria, and Tavern.

For updates on the parade, follow South Williamsport Mummers Parade on Facebook at www.facebook.com/southwilliamsportmummersparade.