Santa and Mrs. Claus roll into Public Square on vintage Shelbyville Fire Department truck

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Santa Claus capped off a festive evening in downtown Shelbyville Friday by bringing the holiday lights alive.

Santa and Mrs. Claus then set up shop inside his newly-refurbished home on the Public Square and met with children to talk about their holiday wishes.

The Mistletoe Market brought families into downtown Shelbyville at 5 p.m., offering a winter market of items to purchase and food to eat. There also were carriage rides and a Ferris Wheel to add to the occasion.

At just after 7 p.m., the Shelbyville High School marching band led the parade south down Harrison St. into the Public Square and out West Washington St.

Hundreds of families lined the streets while children gobbled up candy and books delivered by parade participants.

Santa and Mrs. Claus rode into town on a vintage Shelbyville Fire Department truck and stopped in front of his house to commence with the lighting ceremony along with Shelbyville Mayor Tom DeBaun, who is kicking off the final month of his 12th and final year at City Hall.

“It’s one of the things I enjoy the most,” said DeBaun after escaping the large crowd that was gathered around Santa’s house. “It’s nice to come out and see everybody have a nice time – everybody is smiling, everybody is happy.

“The downtown presents itself so well. I am really pleased with the turnout. I am really impressed with the decorations that all the city employees did such a nice job on and took such pride in this. I am really pleased with all of it.”

DeBaun announced earlier in 2023 that he would not seek a fourth term as mayor which will bring an end to his three-plus decade career in city government. He spearheaded the downtown renovation project that created more people-friendly space in the Public Square that gets put to full use with an event like the holiday parade.

“(The downtown) is doing exactly what we said it would do with all the events we’ve had like Wine Walk and Brew Fest and the Shelby County Players and the tremendous job they do with the pop-up (performances) … and on and on and on,” said DeBaun. “I am very proud of this.

“In 2019 when I announced that I was making this a campaign platform, I said this was the hill I was willing to die on. And you can see this has been better year after year.”

The holiday celebration was the third with the reconfigured downtown and included more lights, more decorations and a Ferris Wheel.

“Isn’t that awesome!” said DeBaun. “The Ferris Wheel is awesome.”

Once Santa was settled in, DeBaun was anxious to walk down East Washington St. and visit since he was busy passing out cookies and hot chocolate prior to the parade.

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