It was a simple affair, the Christmas parade that rolled through the Vicksburg Housing Authority’s Rolling Acres development Saturday afternoon.

There were no marching bands and no flashy floats, only police and sheriff’s cars, fire trucks and the man himself, Santa Claus, but the spirit was there and the residents felt it.

“I think it’s beautiful,” one said Rolling Acres resident said. “They’ve never done this before. I think it’s nice.”

The parade began at the intersection of Alcorn Drive and Elizabeth Circle and wound its way back to the east end of Alcorn and then west, back toward Mission 66.

And as the parade rolled through Rolling Acres and later through the housing authority’s Waltersville Estates development off North Washington Street, representatives for United Way of West Central Mississippi and the housing authority handed out a total of 240 books to the children watching the parade.

“I think it’s great,” Clarencia Robinson said as she stood in front of her home on Elizabeth Circle with her daughter, Zambaya, 3. “I didn’t get a chance to take my daughter downtown to see the parade. I’m glad they’re doing it.”

“It’s very nice,” said Rasheedah King. “We’ve never had anything like this.”

Rolling Acres was the first stop for the parade, which also rolled through the housing authority’s Waltersville Estates development off North Washington. North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield played Santa, standing on the platform of the Vicksburg Fire Department’s Ladder 3 truck and tossing candy to the children as he went by.

Shannon Royal, community impact and events coordinator for United Way of West Central Mississippi, said the parade was planned to reach the children who didn’t have the opportunity to see the city’s Christmas parade downtown or get to see Santa at the outlet mall.

“I love it,” said Frankie Meeks, housing authority resident coordinator. She said the housing authority donated 120 of the books that were given away.

“So many of these children don’t get a chance to go downtown to the Christmas parade or even the homecoming parades. They go to school, come home, and usually don’t go anyplace else. This is our way of telling them and the residents, ‘We care about you.’”