At 8 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, the Wobble Before You Gobble 5K Run/Walk starts in downtown Bremen at The Hub, 119 Hamilton Avenue. The race announced that a new partnership with the City of Bremen and the Bremen Police Department makes the downtown location possible, and it has posted a new route to go with it.
For the past two years the race was listed at 1135 Pacific Avenue. The move puts it in a city park built for gatherings. More importantly, Bremen's downtown holiday season now opens with a fundraiser. Every dollar the race raises goes to buying Christmas for local families.
From Pacific Avenue to Hamilton Avenue
The 2024 listing called that year's race the "4th Annual," with the start at 1135 Pacific Avenue. The 2025 race, held November 27, used the same address. This year's event page on RunSignup moves the gathering point to The Hub and links a new course map, which puts the route at 3.2 miles.
The race page says the partnership with the city and the police department allows the race to "take place at the Hub in downtown Bremen." For a Thanksgiving-morning event, that means hundreds of feet on Hamilton Avenue at an hour when downtown is usually quiet, and a finish at a park that already has a plaza and stage built around it.
The Hub was built for this kind of morning
The Hub has had a short public life so far, and its calendar has filled quickly. A City of Bremen letter dated July 17, 2023, described it as a new city park on the old downtown Hubbard property, with added parking, a plaza, a pavilion and an amphitheater. The Greater Haralson Chamber later announced a grand-opening dedication for Friday, December 6, 2024, timed to Bremen's Hometown Holiday Extravaganza, and described the space as a family-friendly park, performance venue and community gathering space.
Here is how 2025 used it:
| When | Event at The Hub | Who was named with it |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, April 19, 2025, 7 to 9 p.m. | Free Homegrown Band concert at the amphitheater | Greater Haralson Chamber listing |
| Tuesdays, June 3 to September 30, 2025, 4 to 7 p.m. | Fresh at The Hub farmers market | Weekly vendors posted on the City of Bremen's Facebook page |
| Saturday, October 18, 2025, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. | 32nd Bremen Towne Festival | GFWC Georgia Bremen Junior Woman's Club, with the City and The Hub |
| Friday, December 5, 2025, 5:30 to 8 p.m. | Santa Comes to Town/Downtown Lights | City of Bremen, with vendor market activity at Sewell Mill |
Spring music, summer produce, the October festival and a December visit from Santa were all on the calendar. Thanksgiving morning was the open spot, and this year the race fills it. The 5K is also the first event on the park's calendar this season with a direct link to holiday giving.
Where the money goes
The Chamber's listing describes the 5K as an effort "to aid in purchasing Christmas for families in need within our county," with all funds "evenly distributed" among four organizations. The race page puts it more simply: all proceeds help Haralson County children in need. The four recipients:
- Shop with a Cop. A Gateway-Beacon account of the program described local law enforcement officers taking Haralson County children shopping, with the Bremen Police Department handling applications and volunteers serving a meal to parents or guardians.
- Toys for Tots, Haralson County. The local campaign page names Kelley Robinson as coordinator and reports that the 2025 campaign distributed 3,090 toys to 759 children. The 2026 drive is accepting toys, money and volunteers.
- The Giving Tree. Named by the Chamber as one of the four equal recipients.
- Bremen Caring Christmas. Bremen First UMC describes Caring Christmas as a community-wide gift drive sponsored by its United Methodist Men. It is funded by donations and an annual fish fry and provides Christmas gifts and necessary items to children in the Bremen City School District.
That means one registration on Thanksgiving morning supports four separate Christmas efforts. They include a police-led shopping trip, a Marine Corps Reserve toy drive with its own county coordinator and a church men's group gift drive. Each is a few weeks from its own busiest stretch, and the race money arrives before December starts.
Race morning, by the numbers
For anyone signing up on publish day, Thursday, November 19, the standard fee is $45 plus a $4.40 signup fee. The price went up from $40 at midnight on November 13. Ages 10 and under pay $15 plus $3.24 through November 25, then $20 plus $3.24 on race day. Registration is open at RunSignup.
A few details from the race page shape the morning:
- The 5K run/walk starts at 8 a.m. The Chamber lists the event window as 8 to 10 a.m.
- Runners, walkers, stroller-pushers and "four-legged friends" are all invited.
- The race is chip-timed, and every finisher gets a participation medal.
- Commemorative shirts were guaranteed for registrations by November 3, 2026, and are picked up after the race. Race-day sign-ups are not guaranteed a shirt.
- Race-morning registration is by QR code with a credit or debit card only. Cash and checks are not accepted.
On a 3.2-mile course that starts at 8, most walkers will finish well before the 10 a.m. close, which leaves the rest of the morning for the kitchen.
Two days later, the county's first tree lighting is in Buchanan
The next big holiday event in Haralson County is two days and one town away. The City of Buchanan holds its annual Light Up the Night, which doubles as its Christmas parade and tree lighting, on Saturday, November 28, on the square in downtown Buchanan. The Chamber lists it from 6 to 9 p.m. The City of Buchanan's events page says the parade lines up at Buchanan Primary School, and the tree lighting and fireworks begin right after the parade. The evening also includes live music and local vendors. Questions about vendors, parade entries and sponsorships go to the city's event coordinator at [email protected].
That gives the county's Thanksgiving weekend a clear order. Thursday morning raises money for Christmas gifts on Hamilton Avenue, and Saturday night lights the first tree on the Buchanan square. Last year, Bremen's own December evening at The Hub was Santa Comes to Town/Downtown Lights on December 5. The City of Bremen calendar is where this year's downtown holiday dates will appear. For more on how downtown's older addresses have been put back to work, see our earlier look at where Bremen is eating and gathering this season.
If you'll be at The Hub on Thanksgiving morning, with or without a dog or stroller, I'd love to say hello and thank you for supporting these four Christmas programs. And if a conversation over pie turns to your home or a move around Bremen, Vicki Morris would be honored to help. Schedule your personal consultation.
