Gloucester and Mathews are heading into the weekend with another long list of holiday happenings, the most anticipated being the Mathews Christmas Parade, “Fishing You a Merry Christmas.”

The parade will step off from Thomas Hunter Middle School Saturday at 1 p.m. and end at the new Chesapeake Bank location (old Bank of America). After the parade, visit with Santa at the Mathews Visitor and Information Center (Sibley’s Store building) on Main Street from 2-4 p.m.

Leading the parade will be Mathews native Sgt. Kevin Pope, carrying the American flag. Pope, a Signal Systems Support Specialist in the U.S. Army, is assigned to the 82ned Airborne Division, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, The White House Communications Agency. He is currently stationed at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. with the Joint Task Force, National Capitol Region.

Other special attractions, weather permitting, include a scaled replica of the battleship USS Alabama from the Norfolk Naval Shipyard and a flyby by se...