STEUBENVILLE — More than 80 parade units will bring the “sights and sounds of Christmas” to life in downtown Steubenville Saturday.

The city’s annual Christmas parade will start at noon and feature four bands — Steubenville High School, Steubenville Catholic Central, Harrison Central and Harding Middle School — will provide holiday cheer, along with several dance troupes, 29 floats and a variety of decorated cars, vans, and trucks.

“It’s Christmas,” the Steubenville Visitor Center’s Mary Snyder said. “I’m excited.”

Snyder said several martial arts groups also will perform, and parade-goers will get to see homecoming queens, a horse unit (Steubenville Saddle Club) as well as the Shriners’ Tin Lizzies and the Motor Patrol again.

“We have 80-plus units,” Snyder said. “There’s quite a number of really nice floats, including an exceptionally nice entry from Eastern Construction — they’ve outdone themselves over the past few years and have come up with something really great again this year, and other people are getting into it, getting inventive.”

Serving as grand marshal is Roger Hilty who, with his wife Linda, has been active in a variety of community organizations and events. A retired teacher from the Jefferson County Joint Vocational School, Hilty has served on the board of Friendship Park and Kiwanis Soccer, and with Linda has assisted the restoration of the Grand Theater and the improvements in Beatty Park. Many of the electronic features at Historic Fort Steuben’s Christmas at the Fort event were installed by Hilty.

“Roger and Linda are examples of citizens with a heart for the community,” Snyder said, “and we are so pleased to honor them this year.”

The parade is sponsored by Doug Kessler of Steel Valley Tank in memory of his late wife, Betty. The Kessler family provides the tanker/sleigh that Santa will be riding in at the end of the parade.

“I’m hearing from the North Pole that his sleigh has been updated,” Snyder said. “It’s the same sleigh but it will look different.”

The grand marshal vehicle, likewise, is sponsored by Fort Steuben Maintenance.

“And there will be horses and some lambs for the animal lovers as well as martial arts demonstrations,” Snyder said. “The Jefferson County Humane Society will bring a few of their dogs and afterwards take them to Fort Steuben Park for an adoption opportunity.”

Among the many other organizations that will be represented, she said, are the Grand Theater, the Harmonium Project, the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce, Friends of Beatty Park, Historic Fort Steuben and the Steubenville Nutcracker Village. Vans with residents from several nursing homes and care centers also will be in the lineup, as well as a selection of antique cars.

Three judges will be tasked with choosing the top three entries in two categories–float and non-float — with the awards presented the following week.

Temperatures are currently expected to be in the upper 30s, but Snyder said there’s no rain in the forecast, “So bundle up. I think it’s going to be dry and I don’t think it will be overly windy, like it was (Thursday).”

“It all begins at noon on Saturday along Fourth Street, and we hope to see (everybody) there,” she added.

For information on other events in the area during the holiday season, go to VisitSteubenville.com.