Saxonburg will waste no time transitioning from Thanksgiving to the Christmas season, as major holiday events will be held in the borough on two consecutive days after the turkey is carved.

On Black Friday, Nov. 29, the borough will host its annual Holiday Parade, which, in keeping with tradition, will end with an appearance by Santa and Mrs. Claus.

“Joyce Hutterer started this parade over 25 years ago, and it keeps getting bigger every year,” said event organizer Kerri Kadyk.

The parade steps off at 7 p.m., and will follow a new route this year, with staging taking place at the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company carnival grounds. The parade will start down Horne Avenue, take a left onto Rebecca Street, then another left onto Main Street before returning to the carnival grounds.

“It’s going to be backwards from what everyone is used to,” Kadyk said.

She said the change in route was made for two reasons.

First, parade floats, bands and other participants formerly lined up in the neighborhood behind the Dollar General store. This year, a record 55-plus groups will appear in the parade, making it impossible to stage in that neighborhood.

Also, the sidewalks of Main Street were becoming so crowded in recent years that parade watchers spilled onto the street, creating a potentially dangerous situation.

“We are still doing all of Main Street, but it’s going to extend to South Rebecca Street in the hopes of spreading people out,” Kadyk said.

Kadyk said another major change to the parade this year is how the floats will be judged.

“For the first time, we are going to allow the spectators to vote for their favorite float,” Kadyk said. “Traditionally, we have had a judges’ table with three to five judges. But this year, we are going to implement a QR code, and they'll be able to vote for their favorite float. We'll pick the top three most popular floats.”

Kadyk says this change came about due to the sentiment that the same groups of participants won each year.

The QR code will be posted on signs along the parade route, on a flyer to be handed out by parade officials and on Saxonburg’s Annual Holiday Parade Facebook page.

The parade will be preceded at 5 p.m. with the Holiday Market featuring numerous local vendors and artisans in the courtyard outside South Butler Community Library, 240 W. Main St.

The parade is sponsored by the Saxonburg Area Business Association and coordinated by Kadyk and her team at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices The Preferred Realty in Saxonburg.

A vendor market with handmade crafts and goodies will be available from 5 to 9 p.m. at South Butler Community Library.

A tree-lighting will be held at the library at 6:15 p.m., and the St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church handbell choir will perform from 6 to 6:30 p.m.

Food trucks will be available starting at 5 p.m. at the library, Heritage Winery and on Main Street.

Children can get a cookie and share their Christmas wishes with Santa at the library after the parade.

As usual, Saxonburg Memorial Presbyterian Church, 100 W. Main St., will offer free hot chocolate.

The following day, Saturday, Nov. 30, the Saxonburg Area Business Association will host the second annual Truthahntrab 5K Turkey Trot run at Roebling Park, with the starting gun scheduled for 9 a.m.

The “Truthahntrab” — which means “Turkey Trot” in German, a nod to Saxonburg’s German roots — was first held last year, representing the return of the annual fall 5K to Saxonburg after a four-year hiatus. The previous 5K run was held during the now-defunct Saxonburg Festival of the Arts.

The revived 5K drew rave reviews from those who participated, with one runner calling the race “the world’s fastest Turkey Trot.”

“The focus of the race has always been that we want it to be a community event, both for the community at large and for the running community,” said Mike Formica, one of the organizers of the race and a former University of Pittsburgh track and field runner.

This year, organizers have added a 1K “fun run” targeted at younger runners.

“With the 1K, it’s a chance to get some younger kids out there to be able to participate, where a 5K might be a little too long,” Formica said. “It’s a 1K run for any age, but it’s almost all just young kids running it — 4-year-olds, 5-year-olds, 10-year-olds who just want to try it for the first time.”

The route of the 5K race is unchanged from last year, with runners starting at Roebling Park and taking a lap around the borough before heading down East Water Street toward Saxony Farms, then turning around and heading back to Roebling Park. The 1K run consists of one lap around the borough and finishes at the park.

Just as last year, all proceeds from the race will benefit the cross country and track programs at Knoch High School.

Online registration for the race will close at noon Nov. 29. However, in-person registration will be available on the morning of the race.

Paula Grubbs contributed to this report.