"BRAVEST & FINEST" WILL LEAD MID-AMERICA HOLIDAY PARADE IN DOWNTOWN ST. LOUIS ON THANKSGIVING DAY

More Than 125 Colorful Floats, Giant Ballons and Marching Units in Popular Holiday Extravaganza

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI ...Winners of the NBC Today Show "Bravest & Finest" competition will be honorary Grand Marshals at the exciting and colorful Mid-America Holiday Parade in downtown St. Louis on Thanksgiving morning hosted by the Christmas In St. Louis organization.

The two police officers and two firefighters known as "Team St. Louis" bested competitors from across the U.S. to earn "The Bravest & Finest" title in the nationally televised contest last summer. Each team competed in an obstacle course testing strength, speed, agility, teamwork and memory skills. The winners are City of St. Louis Police Officers Sam Hill of the Seventh District and Kathleen Nocitio of the Ninth District, St. Louis Fire Battalion Chief Douglas Cribbs and St. Louis Firefighter Keith Williams of Engine House 26.

"'The Bravest & Finest' represent the high quality and caliber of police officers and firefighters throughout greater St. Louis, and we are honored that these heroes will serve as grand marshals of the Mid-America Holiday Parade," said T. Frank James, III, parade chairman.

More than 125 spectacular marching units will join "The Bravest & Finest" in the second largest televised holiday parade in the nation. These include 16 marching bands; 11 giant inflated balloons; St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay; St. Louis Police Chief Joseph Mokwa; St. Louis Fire Chief Sherman George; the Budweiser Clydesdales, the White Horse Mounted Patrol from Sioux City Iowa; St. Louis Rams cheerleaders; plus spectacular floats, decorated carriages, antique cars, dance teams, trained animal acts, and many other crowd-pleasing attractions including Fredbird and, of course, Santa Claus.

At 8:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning, November 28, 2002, the parade will start at Broadway and Spruce Streets, march to Market Street, then go west on Market past Union Station, ending at 20th Street. It will last about two hours.

The parade will be broadcast live for St. Louis viewers from 9-11 a.m. on KSDK News Channel 5 and to major cities across the Midwest, reaching more than six million households.

The Mid-America Holiday Parade is produced by Christmas in St. Louis, a non-profit organization that supports charitable organizations and promotes special activities each holiday season, including the "Holiday Festival of Lights" that will occur on Friday, November 22 in downtown St. Louis, in Clayton and in more than 30 other communities.

AmerenUE, which provides energy services to 1.8 million customers in Missouri and Illinois, will sponsor the marching band contest at this year's Mid-America Holiday Parade. Winners will be announced following the parade.

Giant Inflatables

Hundreds of volunteers will maneuver giant, lighter-than-air balloons during the parade. In total, the balloons use more than 60,000 cubic feet of helium and this year will include:

Holiday ornaments        Richie Rich

Arthur with a book         Uncle Sam

Babar                 Twinkles the Snowman

Felix the Cat             Nia the Angel

Jolly ol' St. Nick         World War ll soldier

For information, visit the website www.christmasinstlouis.org.

See you at the Mid-America Holiday Parade!

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