From tomorrow night's Movie Night through the Christmas parade, Red Bay's holiday calendar has ten events on nine dates, and only two of those dates fall on a Saturday. The rest land on a Friday, a Sunday, a Tuesday or Thursday evening, or a Monday night. The season ends with the Sunday tree lighting and a parade the very next evening, a Monday, on 4th Avenue.
For anyone who lives here, that changes the planning. The real decisions are which evenings to keep open and where to eat on a night when the usual Saturday options aren't in play.
The season, sorted by day of the week
| Date | Day | Event | Where | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 30 | Friday | Movie Night in the Bay, Fall Family Night | City of Red Bay event | See city announcement |
| Nov. 7 | Saturday | Peppermint Day in the Bay | Participating Red Bay businesses | Hours not yet posted |
| Nov. 10 | Tuesday | "The Odd Couple" | Weatherford Center | 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 12 | Thursday | "The Odd Couple" | Weatherford Center | 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 13 | Friday | "The Odd Couple" | Weatherford Center | 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 14 | Saturday | "The Odd Couple" | Weatherford Center | 7 p.m. |
| Nov. 15 | Sunday | "The Odd Couple" | Weatherford Center | 7 p.m. |
| Dec. 6 | Sunday | Christmas Open House | Participating Red Bay businesses | 1 to 4:30 p.m. |
| Dec. 6 | Sunday | Christmas Tree Lighting | Bay Tree Park | 5 p.m. |
| Dec. 7 | Monday | Christmas Parade | Downtown, 4th Avenue | 6 p.m. |
The City of Red Bay posted Movie Night in the Bay on October 9 as a Fall Family Night set for Friday, October 30, the day after this post goes up. It starts a five-week stretch that hits its busiest point in mid-November and then goes quiet until the first weekend of December.
Peppermint Saturday, and the five nights after it
Saturday, November 7 is Peppermint Day in the Bay. The Franklin County Chamber of Commerce describes it as a day of shopping specials and sweet treats at participating Red Bay businesses. Neither the Chamber nor the city has posted hours or a list of participating shops yet, so check the City of Red Bay's Facebook page in the days before.
The rest of the county shops that same weekend too. The Chamber's Christmas in Franklin County calendar has Russellville Florist & Gifts open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. that Saturday for its "Have A Holly Jolly Christmas" Holiday Open House. Maggie J's holds its Christmas Open House from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Rock Creek Co. holds one from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A Red Bay household can start downtown in the morning and still have the afternoon to drive east.
Three days later, the Bay Tree Council for the Performing Arts opens "The Odd Couple" at the Weatherford Center. Shows are at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, and then each night from Thursday, November 12 through Sunday, November 15. That's five performances, with no show on Wednesday, and four of the five are on weeknights or Sunday. Updates and ticket details are on the Bay Tree Council's website.
Supper before a 7 p.m. curtain
A run of weeknight shows brings up the dinner question. The Stand at 409 Fourth Avenue Southeast is the newest answer downtown. The Red Bay News reported in August that Brent and Lorie Collum opened it as a produce stand the week of the Fourth of July. They closed it briefly to finish the kitchen and pass inspections, then reopened with sandwiches and homemade salads and sides alongside the fruits and vegetables. The Collums ran Fourth Street Grill in Red Bay for several years before this.
The menu changes with whatever produce comes in. "If I've got broccoli out here, I'll make broccoli salad," Lorie Collum told the Red Bay News, and she mentioned potato salad, grape salad, and Caprese salads. She also told the paper she planned to add homemade soups and seasonal specials. Soup would suit a November evening at the Weatherford Center, but the menu could look different by then.
Plan around the hours. As of the August report, The Stand was open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. until about 4 p.m. It was closed Sunday and Monday while the Collums settled on a schedule. If those hours still hold, a takeout supper picked up before 5:30 works for the Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday shows. It won't help on December 6 or 7, the season's last two nights, because those are a Sunday and a Monday. Orders go through Lorie Collum by phone or Facebook Messenger.
Tuesday and Thursday afternoons on 4th Avenue
The weekday pattern holds outside the holiday events too. The Red Bay Museum is open Tuesday and Thursday from 1:30 to 4 p.m. and by appointment. On Fridays, visitors can get in through the Civitan Thrift Store next door, which is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The museum's open afternoons fall on two of the same weekdays as "The Odd Couple," so a Tuesday or Thursday can run from the museum straight to the theater.
Railroad Park sits directly across the street from the museum, at 111 4th Avenue East. The Franklin County Times reported that the park's 1923 steam locomotive was getting new paint while work on a concrete pad, lighting, and other features continued. Joshua Lackey of Three B Painting in Talladega did the repaint with his son and his stepfather, and he told the paper he has painted trains in 37 states. Mayor Mike Shewbart told the paper that Bob Tiffin bought the locomotive, paid to have it restored and brought to Red Bay, and is paying for the new paint too.
Red Bay Museum Curator Scotty Kennedy described the plans to the Times. Some sections of the park will get brick pavers salvaged from the old canning plant building at the Red Bay school, a building that over the years served as a band room, classroom space, and later the snack room. The plantings will include two bay trees, a nod to the city's name. A railroad switch original to Red Bay, a telegraph pole with glass insulators, and railroad signal equipment are to be added later, along with interpretive signs. The City of Red Bay, the Red Bay Museum, local businesses, private donors, and grants have all helped pay for the park. The museum and the city co-sponsor it, and the Civitan Club helps oversee it.
The wiring for the lights is already underground, but the light fixtures go in only after the concrete and pavers are done. Kennedy told the Times there was no firm completion date. The city's tree lighting on December 6 is scheduled for Bay Tree Park, not Railroad Park. Unless the remaining work has wrapped up since that report, a museum afternoon this fall may still find the park partly finished.
Sunday into Monday, hour by hour
The season ends on back-to-back days, with the events stacked close together.
- Sunday, Dec. 6, 1 p.m.: The Christmas Open House begins at participating Red Bay businesses.
- Sunday, 4:30 p.m.: The open house ends.
- Sunday, 5 p.m.: The Christmas tree is lit at Bay Tree Park, half an hour after the shops close.
- Monday, Dec. 7, noon: Parade registration forms are due at Red Bay City Hall.
- Monday, 5 p.m.: Parade lineup begins at the Sunshine Homes parking lot.
- Monday, 6 p.m.: The parade starts down 4th Avenue downtown.
The Chamber's separate "Christmas in the Bay" page lists the parade at 7 p.m. The City of Red Bay's parade page and the Chamber's own Christmas calendar both say 6 p.m., and the city runs the parade. This year's theme is "Christmas Classics Come to Life!" The city has invited local businesses, churches, schools, organizations, and individuals to enter. Registration forms are available at City Hall or as a download from the city's page, and questions go to City Hall at 256-356-4473, extension 7 or 3. With the deadline at noon on parade day, a float team can finish its entry form the same morning, but anyone with a day job will need to drop it off before lunch.
Why Red Bay gets the Monday
Franklin County's towns hold their parades on separate weeknights. The Chamber's calendar has the Franklin County Chamber Christmas Parade in downtown Russellville on Thursday, December 3 at 6 p.m., with the theme "Have A Holly Dolly Christmas." Red Bay follows on Monday, December 7, and Vina holds its parade along AL Hwy-19 on Tuesday, December 8 at 6 p.m., with "A Disney Christmas" as its theme. All three start at 6 p.m. on a different night, so no two of them overlap. A family that wants to see more than one parade can drive to Russellville on Thursday and be back home for 4th Avenue on Monday.
Thursday, December 3 is busy in Russellville. Every Light A Prayer for Peace is at the Franklin County Courthouse at 4:15 p.m., the city's tree lighting is at the Byars Building at 5 p.m., and the Christmas at City Lake Park tree lighting ceremony follows at 7:30 p.m. Red Bay's two big nights come three and four days later.
If parade night on 4th Avenue has you thinking about a home within walking distance of downtown Red Bay, Sherry Pruitt Real Estate knows these streets and can walk you through what's available near them. Schedule a consultation today.
