A good crowd, patriotic floats and seasonal weather combined fora great Christmas Parade Thursday evening in downtown Brookhaven,chamber of commerce officials said.

“We had some beautiful floats,” said Kay Burton, the chamber’sprogram director. “I think the whole event was verysuccessful.”

In the float competition, the Juvenile Rehabilitation Facilityfloat was chosen as the overall winner after taking honors for MostBeautiful and Most Festive in the General Theme category. It wasthe only dual-winner of the evening, which featured floats andentries based on a “Messages of Hope” theme.

“It was a great float,” Burton said. “It was clear a lot of workwent into it. It was neat.”

Other winners in various categories included:

RELIGIOUS

* Most Beautiful – Bethel United Methodist Church

* Best Depiction of Theme – Mt. Wade M.B. Church

* Most Original – Shady Grove Baptist Church

GENERAL

* Most Original – Trustmark National Bank

* Best Depiction of Theme – Brookhaven Exchange Club

SCHOOL

* Most Beautiful – Lindsey Headstart Center

* Most Festive – New Zion Headstart Center

* Most Original – Enterprise High School Future Farmers ofAmerica

* Best Depiction of Theme – Lincoln County T-Bone Club

SMALL BUSINESS

* Most Beautiful – Brookhaven Honda

* Most Festive – J & T Stables

* Most Original – Clara’s Diner

* Best Depiction of Theme – Brookhaven Transmission

Despite concerns earlier in the day, Burton said the “weathergods” smiled on the parade and lent some Christmas-time weather forthe event.

In addition to a great crowd and floats, Burton said theperformance by the Jackson State University “Sonic Boom of theSouth” was a parade highlight.

“It was touching,” Burton said. “They did a great job.”