CHOCOWINITY — A pre-turkey day parade ushered in the Christmas season a little early Saturday morning.

The seventh-annual Chocowinity Christmas parade kicked off yuletide celebrations in Beaufort County. Organizers in Washington, Bath, Belhaven, Aurora and Edward have also announced plans for similar festivities.

Saturday’s parade, organized by a committee headed by Arlene Jones and Rachel Wolfe, was sponsored by the Town of Chocowinity.

Chosen as grand marshal was 88-year-old Jesse Powers, a Chocowinity resident since he was 10 years old.

“They had to find an old man so they found one,” Powers joked as he waited for the procession to begin. “I was real pleased they asked me, very tickled.”

Powers waved to the crowds from his 1967 Pontiac Catalina, chauffeured by his son Jesse Powers III. The Pontiac was one of a dozen or so classic automobiles included in the parade line-up.

For the first time this year, ribbons were awarded to the most creative entries in the Chocowinity parade. Winners were First Baptist Church of Chocowinity, first; Hodges Chapel Pentecostal Holiness Church, second; and a 1952 Farmall Cub tractor driven by Charles Wilson, a member of the Chocowinity-based Eastern Antique Power Association.

Rounding out the festivities were a Christmas Expo hosted by the Chocowinity Fire Department Auxiliary. Baked goods, holiday decorations, crafts and gift items were among the merchandise being sold during the Expo, which was a fundraiser for the fire department.

For more photos from the Chocowinity parade, as well as a schedule of other Beaufort County parades, see the Pamlico Horizons feature in the Nov. 25 edition of the Daily News.