By GAYLE WEBER

gweber@dailynews.net

LA CROSSE -- The Rush County Chamber of Commerce is trying something new this year with its annual Christmas Kickoff.

Santa Claus will arrive as usual Nov. 27 in downtown, but he will be following what chamber president Linda Kenyon hopes will be a long procession of floats and other entries for the first lighted Christmas parade in town.

"We're going to try it this year and see if it adds something to our Christmas Kickoff," Kenyon said.

La Crosse is borrowing the lighted parade idea from many communities in the area and specifically modeling it after the long-running Otis parade.

Kenyon said there is no registration deadline for the parade.

"All they have to do is show up," she said.

She said she hopes each entry will be lighted but discouraged the use of Santa since he will be arriving at the end of the parade.

A parade route hasn't been determined, but she knows it will run some length of Main Street and end in Pride Park, where Santa arrives on a fire truck each year.

The parade begins at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 27 and follows the traditional free hot dogs and hot chocolate available during the Christmas Kickoff.

Also, some downtown businesses will be open late to encourage hometown shopping, Kenyon said.

"We just want people to realize what we have to offer in Rush County," she said. "You don't have to drive out of county to find some really neat Christmas presents."

Kenyon said the parade is open to anyone and any type of entry.

"If you go to the trouble of making an entry, maybe take it the 15 miles and enter it in the Otis parade," Kenyon said.

Otis' lighted Christmas parade begins at 6 p.m. Dec. 6.