Once again, the Mayor’s Christmas Motorcade will soon be pulling away from Tallapoosa City Hall to take gifts to the patients at Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital in Rome, Ga., to help insure they have a merry Christmas.

Since 1958, the Georgia Municipal Association has sponsored and helped organize the annual Mayor’s Christmas Motorcade, which ensures that the estimated 3,200 Georgia citizens living in the state’s seven regional mental health and retardation hospitals have basic necessities and a little joy during the holiday season. The first Mayor’s Christmas Motorcade was organized by the GMA and then Georgia Governor Ernest Vandiver. According to the GMA, the staff at the regional hospitals say that many patients would go without any type of gift during the holidays if it weren’t for the Motorcade.

The city of Tallapoosa and Tallapoosa Mayor William “Pete” Bridges will also be participating once again this year.

“Tallapoosa has been involved in this for 25 to 30 years,” Bridges said. “I did it when I first became mayor and have done it ever since because I feel like it is my responsibility to organize efforts for this great cause.”

Unfortunately, many patients in our state’s mental health and retardation hospitals receive little contact or support from their families, even during the holidays, according to the GMA. Therefore, the regional hospitals depend on the citizens living in their region to donate gifts for the hospitals to distribute to the patients during Christmas.

“We’re proud to continue the Motorcade tradition begun over 50 years ago,” said Eatonton Mayor and Motorcade Chairman John Reid in a prepared statement to the GMA. “This annual event allows us to remember the people from our communities who can’t be home for the holidays and reminds us that we’re connected to each other. It’s a great way to start the holiday season.”

Tallapoosa’s collection efforts were very successful last year, according to Bridges.

“We might have been one of the largest contributors to Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital last year,” he said. “We received a tremendous greeting last year [at the hospital] because we brought so much.”

According to the GMA, the list of things needed from donors is extensive but wide-ranging. Gifts can include clothing (sizes extra large through 4X for women and size small for men), like pajamas, bathrobes, underwear, bedrooms slippers, socks, hats, tennis shoes, T-shirts, and sweat shirts and sweat pants. Miscellaneous gifts are also an option, such as cards, board games, baseball caps, watches, wallets, Walkman radios, Top 40 Hits tapes and CDs, stationary, pencils and pens, tote bags, cookies and snacks, movies (PG and G only), and hair accessories. Personal care items are also in high need: toothpaste, toothbrushes, combs, brushes, cosmetics, shaving lotion, deodorant, after shave, cosmetic cases, shampoo and conditioner, and body lotion.

“There are so many things we can bring to these people that they really need,” Bridges said.

The hospitals ask that all items be new and unwrapped; however, residents can donate wrapping paper, ribbons and bows or cash. Cash donations can often help purchase larger items needed by the hospitals, such as TVs, DVD players and sports equipment. Also, whatever gifts are not given away during Christmas will be distributed to patients on their birthdays.

Tallapoosa residents can drop off items at City Hall until Dec. 14. Bridges will then personally take all the donated items to the hospital on Dec. 15.

For more information on the Mayor’s Christmas Motorcade or items needed by the hospital, contact city hall at 770-574-2345 or log on to the GMA’s Web site at www.gmanet.com.