By Bill Zwecker for Chicago Sun-Times

For many, the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade is a great way to kick off the holiday season. No doubt, this year’s 81st edition of the annual tradition will again put many in the ho-ho-ho mood. It all takes place between 8 and 11 a.m. Thanksgiving Day — with this year’s grand marshal being Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, whose holiday show “Dee Snider’s Rock & Roll Christmas Tale” is playing at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place.

Among the celebrities scheduled to be special guests at the parade, which will be broadcast live on WGN-Channel 9 and WGN America, will be actor Colin Egglesfield (“Rizzoli & Isles”), Karolyn Grimes (Zuzu in the holiday classic “It’s A Wonderful Life”), Yuri Sardarov (“Chicago Fire”), actress and the beloved Jackie Robinson West Little League team — our very own U.S. champions.

The parade will take place on State Street, between Congress Parkway and Randolph Street — cutting right through Chicago’s Loop on Nov. 27.