Freeman Announces Judges for 51st Annual Joplin Christmas Parade

JOPLIN, Mo. – Excitement is building for the 51st Annual Joplin Christmas Parade, which will roll down Main Street at 6:00 pm Tuesday, December 7, featuring more than 85 entries. Freeman Health System staff are coordinating volunteers who will be posted along the parade route and finalizing the lineup of participating organizations and bands. The parade lineup will be posted on the Freeman Facebook page on Monday, December 6.

A color guard will start the parade at Main St. and 15th and conclude at 3rd Street. Grand Marshals Isaac and Easton Howard, who are Children’s Miracle Network National Champions, will be riding in a classic red pickup truck tying in with this year’s theme – Cruisin’ to Christmas.

Even Santa will have a new set of wheels as he will arrive in a Corvette.

Judges for this year’s parade are Paula F. Baker, Freeman President and Chief Executive Officer; Joplin Mayor Ryan Stanley; Dr. John Cox, Freeman Cardiologist; Dr. Ryan Longnecker, Freeman Cardiologist; and Dr. Laura Rosch, Kansas City University-Joplin Campus Dean. The judge’s stand will be positioned at 8th and Main Street.

Two food truck vendors will be selling treats to parade attendees: Hershey’s Mobile Ice Cream Parlor, featuring hot chocolate floats, and Churros Colima will both be located at 6th and Main Street.

Funds generated by the 2021 Joplin Christmas Parade will go to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals®, which provides assistance to children from birth to 21 years of age in a 14-county area in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. All money raised stays local, helping children with medical needs and their families. Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals helps furnish and maintain Freeman Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, provides funding for local community organizations’ pediatric needs and provides pediatric emergency equipment for area agencies.

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About Freeman Health System

Locally owned, not-for-profit and nationally recognized, Freeman Health System includes Freeman Hospital West, Freeman Hospital East, Freeman Neosho Hospital and Ozark Center – the area’s largest provider of behavioral health services – as well as two urgent care clinics, dozens of physician clinics and a variety of specialty services. In 2020, Freeman earned dozens of individual awards for medical excellence and patient safety from CareChex®, a quality rating system that helps consumers evaluate healthcare providers. U.S. News & World Report named Freeman Health System the Best Hospital in Southwest Missouri for 2020-2021. With more than 320 physicians on staff representing more than 80 specialties, Freeman provides cancer care, heart care, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopaedics, children’s services and women’s services. Additionally, Freeman is the only Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in a 70-mile radius. For more information, visit freemanhealth.com.