The lights are lit. The garland and wreaths are hung. All that we need now is a little gasoline and a few spark plugs and our community’s Christmas can fire up and roll along this weekend.

By all accounts our community — particularly key, public parts of it — is dripping with Christmas.

The various groups from Natchez to Vidalia to Ferriday, who help us all roll in the holidays, have done a fantastic job.

The area’s public Christmas spirit has never looked better and by the end of this weekend, the Christmas holiday will truly roll into season.

Three Christmas parades are on tap for our area.

The fun begins Saturday morning with the Ferriday parade kicking off at 10 a.m.

St. Nick will certainly be busy because after the Ferriday parade the jolly one will be able to grab lunch and a quick nap before he heads to Natchez.

The Natchez parade rolls through downtown beginning at 6 p.m. On Sunday Vidalia’s parade will top off the holiday parade season with the fun beginning at 3 p.m.

We encourage all residents — even the ones with a streak of Scrooge in them — to head out to one of the three parades and enjoy a little holiday spirit this weekend.

The parades are good, wholesome fun — and they’re free. How can you beat that?