Catfish stew and a parade will help kick off the Christmas season in the tiny community of Elgin Saturday.

The Elgin Catfish Stomp’s 100 unit Christmas Parade will start at 11 a.m. The parade will be followed by lunch featuring 600 gallons of catfish stew at the Blaney Elementary School gym.

Live entertainment will follow at the gym featuring vocals by Agriculture Commissioner Bryan Patrick and clogging by the Palmetto to Cloggers. There will also be lieve country and western music and a disco later in the afternoon. Most of the activity will take place at close-off block nearby. The National Guard Helicopter Unit will perform along with the U. S. Army Band.

For more information concerning the “Stomp,” call 803-438-3040.

Runners in the annual Catfish Run will start a 10,000 meter and a one-mile run about noon at the school.

The Catfish Stomp and Christmas parade started in 1976, presumably in an effort to generate inerest and revenues in the Elgin area.

The success of the first three “Stomps” show what “a small community of 600 can do when everyone gets concerned and offers their cooperation,” according to one Elgin resident.