McLane Southern’s depiction of astronauts and space shuttles,flanked by snowmen, grinches and spacemen, was enough to win thebest overall float award at what organizers say was a verysuccessful Brookhaven Christmas Parade Thursday night.

Parade Chairman Rita Rich said while she had expected a goodturnout for the parade, the event was more triumphant than shecould have imagined.

“I was surprised to see we had more floats than I thought I haddown on paper,” she said. “And I thought everything went reallywell. I understand there were a lot of people, and I’m notsurprised at that.”

The fact that there were ties for best float in two divisionswas a testament to the number and quality of the floats this year,Rich said.

“We had to give two category ties. That says a lot for thenumber of entries we had,” she said.

The ties were between State Bank and Trust and Magnolia ElectricPower Company in the General category, and in the Organizationcategory between Hog Chain Volunteer Fire Department and theLincoln County T-Bone Club.

The Religious Theme category went to Lincoln Residential Center,while Smith Brothers Collision floated into first place in theSmall Business category.

Rich said guests to the parade were excited and impressed byit.

She said former Brookhaven resident Tommy Tadlock, father ofMiss Mississippi Anna Tadlock, had remarked at how large the paradehas gotten since several years ago. In addition, she said, GrandMarshal Brian McGee was “quite awestruck by the crowd.”

Rich offered thanks to the police department for their work, theExchange Club for the flags they passed out for onlookers to wave,the groups who worked so diligently on the floats, as well as thefew volunteers who turned up to help organize and execute theparade.

“We did need more volunteers. We didn’t have many at all,” shesaid. “I was very disappointed we didn’t have any help. It’s a lotto do, and we needed more.”

But that aside, she said, the parade was a positive experiencefor everyone.

“Even the crowd did wonderful, everyone was very respectful,”she said.

In the future, Rich said she hopes to see more bands in theparade.

“I was hoping for more bands because they add a lot, but thefour we had I was very proud of. They did a good job,” she said.”Everything went off well, and everyone enjoyed it.”

And Rich said there was a moment of personal satisfaction in itfor her as well. She said McGee gave her a two-sided coin with theNavy seal on it, and she was touched. But then she found out fromanother friend what it meant.

“They can give those to different people when they visit peoplefor a job well done. I was very touched by that,” she said. “Hegives his life when he goes to Iraq and Afghanistan every day, andfor him to give me a coin that said the job I did was well done, Iwas very touched and very emotional about that.”