Roseville Holiday Lights on Wheels Parade drives into town Dec. 7

ROSEVILLE — The city will be merry and bright Dec. 7 when the Roseville Neighborhood Watch Group holds its fifth annual Roseville Holiday Lights on Wheels Parade.

Roseville will resemble the North Pole as residents and businesses will decorate their cars and trucks with Christmas lights and drive them in a procession through town. The city’s Public Works, Police and Fire departments and Roseville Community Schools also will be dashing through the snow. The parade usually takes about an hour.

Spectators can view the twinkling motorcade from their front lawns and city sidewalks. The parade, too, will jingle all the way by several adult care facilities, where residents will wave with glow sticks. Matthew Belz, a member of the neighborhood watch group administration team, said the parade began as a way to bring “joy and the holidays” to residents in assisted living residences.

“That was the purpose,” said Belz, of Roseville. “Being that they don’t get out too much, to see people smiling, it’s a really wonderful feeling.”

The popularity of the parade grew from there.

“There’s tons of people on sidewalks waving at us,” Belz said. “That’s really cool as well. It’s absolutely amazing.”

Organizers have a Facebook page with all the details: just type in “5th Annual Roseville Holiday Lights On Wheels Parade.” The event will happen rain or shine. There is still time to register a vehicle for the parade and there is no cost to participate. There is one rule: The vehicle must be decorated for the holidays. The parade can have up to 100 participants.

For participants, the staging area — which will open at 4:30 p.m. — is in the north lot of Roseville High School by the football field at 17855 Common Road. The parade will begin at 5:30 p.m. Groveland Street, Utica Road and Frazho Road are among the many roads on the parade route.

“It’s the same parade route as the past few years,” Belz said.

The Roseville parade is usually held the last Saturday before Christmas Day but is earlier this year.

“We had to move the parade at the Police Department’s request,” Belz said. “It’s better for staffing.”

Belz said the parade wouldn’t be possible without the assistance of Police Chief Mitch Berlin, Fire Chief Keith Jacobs, Roseville Community Schools Superintendent Mark Blaszkowski, the Capponi family, and Carolyn Czech and Joe Scholl from the Roseville Neighborhood Watch administration team. After the parade, everyone is invited to meet at Leo’s Coney Island, 32773 Gratiot Ave., next to Macomb Mall.

Returning for the parade are members of the Midwest Jeep Junkies Michigan Chapter, which is based out of Macomb County. So far, 27 Jeep members have registered for the Roseville Holiday Lights on Wheels Parade. Sinister Jeeps, also of Macomb County, will be joining in with the group.

“We put lights on in different configurations, large inflatables, some have wreaths and Christmas trees. That’s what makes it unique,” said Scott Bushbaker, who resides in Fraser.  “Every year, we put more and more lights on. Everybody likes looking at the Jeeps and we have a good time.”

The Midwest Jeep Junkies Michigan Chapter takes part in various events throughout the year.

“We like doing community events, and we’re trying to do more volunteering,” Bushbaker said.

For anyone who wants to participate, find the registration form at https://forms.gle/DV TaeajUtckHtiE48.

For spectators, here is the map of this year’s route: https://bit.ly/2024HLOWParadeRoute.