Ready, march

It’s almost parade time in Purcell and, spoiler alert, Santa Claus is coming to town!

And so, we have it on good authority, is that green-skinned identity thief, the Grinch.

Now the question is will you be able to keep the genuine Jolly Ol’ Elf and the pretender separate?

You will have your chance this evening (Thursday).

That’s when Purcell – well, Main Street, actually – will transform itself to Who-ville with a tree lighting ceremony and a parade to usher in the Yule season.

The annual holiday parade is sponsored by the Heart of Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce.

Officials there came up with the theme, Christmas in Who-ville.

Elisabeth Baker, the chamber’s executive director, said Santa (the real deal, not that “Grinchy” one) will be accepting your Christmas wish list and posing for pictures at 5:30 p.m. by the caboose.

With as much pageantry as flipping a switch warrants, the city Christmas tree’s lights will switch on at 5:45 p.m. and Santa will leave the area soon after that.

Don’t despair, though. He’ll be back in the parade which is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.

Baker said there were 19 confirmed entries for the parade on Monday and she was expecting more before the registration deadline on Tuesday.

The chamber’s directors eliminated competition in this year’s event. There will be no judging of parade entries. Just tons of enjoyment for the spectators lining Main Street.