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It happens every year: One minute you're complaining because the holiday lights are up before Thanksgiving; next minute you're looking at a bleak, blank January on your social engagement calendar.

The week before Thanksgiving is key when it comes to tuning up holiday spirit – a bit of a warm-up for the mad rush of shopping, shows, parties and religious celebrations. Here in Montgomery County, you can give thanks, take in a parade, go on a pub crawl and run, walk or jog until you're feeling famished enough for a heap of second helpings – all before the turkey comes out of the oven, barbecue or cauldron of boiling peanut oil.

So don't let the merry season pass you by. Start with pre-Thanksgiving, try something fun and get into a holiday groove.

Step off

"I'm a parade person," says Susan Payne-Madden of Silver Spring. "The hometown I grew up in, Swissdale, Pa., had the fireman's parade and I'd go every July."

As a child, she spent every Thanksgiving Day watching the Macy's parade on TV, a tradition that continued when she moved to Silver Spring after college. It seemed only natural to get involved when a parade was proposed a decade ago.

"Susan Hoffman and Lydia Grant were in charge of it at the time," she remembers. "I read about it in the paper and volunteered. We had these meetings ,and volunteers came in, and we sat down and brainstormed."

That first year, Payne-Madden talked her son – then in high school – into carrying the banner with some buddies. Now, she's more likely to see kids from Montgomery Blair, where she's a media assistant, at the parade than her busy grownup children. Because the parade takes place the Saturday before Thanksgiving, it's an event anyone can attend, even if they're expected in the kitchen on Thanksgiving Day. And yet, because it features big balloons shaped like cartoon animals, the Silver Spring Thanksgiving Parade is perfect for children.

"It's a kids' parade," says Payne-Madden, "but who doesn't love a parade? It kicks off the holiday season. You can feel the excitement' you can see it on the kids' faces."

As a volunteer, Payne-Madden gets to see the excitement close up. She has led the first section of the parade ever since it started in 1997. Not an easy task, but an important one.

"If you have a good start," she says, "everything else will be OK."

Tour & pour

Thanksgiving is about family, but it's also about friends, especially for young people. And the Bethesda Bar Tour turns another Saturday evening at the pub into an opportunity to meet new people, have fun and help feed the hungry.

"We team up with local food banks," explains Ashley Bruno, whose company, Lindy Promotions, puts the tour together along with Social Sport Bethesda and Manna Food. "Eight of the local bars in Bethesda are taking part, and there are bar specials and food specials – and college games on TV."

Bruno says that participants can register for the event (which ends at 9 p.m.) between 1 and 6 p.m. at Tommy Joe's in Bethesda, and should bring food for Manna Food Center; that and a portion of wristband sales will benefit the hungry.

"It's a way to get together with friends and help a good cause," says Bruno, who likens the event to a scavenger hunt. "I got an e-mail from a girl who made the Bethesda Bar Crawl her birthday weekend special event.

"You get the drink specials, we donate all the food to the center," she says. "It's great."

Amazing day

"Last year, we had people registering from 48 states," says Bernadeen Zivkovic, special events and marketing coordinator for the YMCA in Bethesda. "It's a family tradition."

She's talking about the Turkey Chase, the Thanksgiving morning run through Bethesda that supports the YMCA's Youth and Family Services. Each year, Zivkovic says, the event nets more than $100,000, and while most helps kids and families who can't afford programs at the Y, grants are also awarded to other local non-profits.

"People want to give," she says. "It's a nice feeling being part of that, especially on Thanksgiving."

But feeling thankful and generous is just part of what attracts people to the Turkey Chase.

"It starts the day out; it sets the tone," says Zivkovic, who notes that some runners dress up as turkeys for their run. "It gives them the opportunity to eat more."

Because a 10k race – or even a 2-mile fun run/walk – can burn quite a few calories. At the Turkey Chase, these are open to the entire family, and kids, 8 and younger, can take on the 50-meter Tot-Trot on the infield track at the Y.

Zivkovic says that last year's race had about 7,000 participants and 3,000 volunteers.

"It's an amazing day," she says. "When the National Anthem is sung, the hush falls over the crowd. It's amazing."

If you go

-The First Annual Gaithersburg Interfaith Celebration of Thanksgiving will begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Rosborough Theater at Asbury United Methodist Village, 409 Russell Ave., Gaithersburg. Music, proclamations of gratitude and a statement by Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney A. Katz are planned. Call 301-216-4100.

-The 11th Annual Thanksgiving Parade steps off on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. from Sligo and Georgia avenues, proceeding north on Georgia and turning right onto Ellsworth Drive in Silver Spring. The parade will be broadcast live on News Channel 8 from 10 a.m. to noon.

-The Bethesda Fall Bar Tour runs from 1 to 9 p.m. Saturday, starting at Tommy Joe's, 4714 Montgomery Lane, Bethesda. Admission is $10, or $7 with the donation of two canned goods benefiting Manna Food Center. Call 301-652-7712 or visit www.lindypromo.com

-The 26th Annual Turkey Chase Race takes place Thursday, Nov. 27, starting at 8 a.m. at the YMCA Bethesda-Chevy Chase, 9401 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, Registration rates range from $10 to $40. Call 301-440-1854 or visit www.turkeychase.com.