Parades just happen…don’t they? Prior to my work here at the Chamber, I never gave that much thought. Everywhere I’ve lived, there have been parades. Independence Day, Memorial Day, Christmas, and a host of other celebrations have all involved a parade.

As a child, I’d watch each float waiting for those that threw candy. I’d marvel at the decorations – the flowers, the lights, the music. They were all magical.

As I grew older, I might notice the obvious time and effort it took to make the float. I may have thought about the creativity and imagination that went into the piece of art making its way down the street.

But my thoughts about parades never went further than that. Oh sure…If I’d stopped and taken a moment, I would have identified the work that went into the whole parade. But I didn’t.

I took parades for granted. I mean, they just sort of happen. Don’t they?

Ha! Not hardly. I started at the Chamber and one of my first assignments was the Snowflake Parade. Sweet! This will be easy, I thought. Take the application, put them in order, line them up, send them off down Main Street.

Wrong! Parades take work and I’m guessing the majority of the population takes them for granted. Why do I feel that way? These are the things I hear whenever a parade goes through town:

• Why wasn’t it longer?
• Why can’t we throw candy?
• Why was it at 10 a.m.? Why at 5 p.m.?
• Why on a Sunday? Why on a Saturday? Why on a Monday?
• The city needs to do a better job planning that parade.
• Why is it on Main Street? Why not on 6^th Street?
• We pay their salaries – they should ask for our input.

Well, in defense of parade and community event planners everywhere, here’s what I’d like to share:

• It’s a volunteer thing. Sure, here at the Chamber I’m staff and I did it but I didn’t and couldn’t do it alone. Neither can the other organizations who have stepped up to keep the parade or other community events running. It takes a group of volunteers to organize, lead, and clean-up after these events. Most people are surprised to learn that here at the Chamber, we operated the 4^th of July festivities with a skeleton crew of 3 volunteers plus me.
• It’s on the day it’s on because a) that’s the day of the holiday or b) that’s when it worked for the volunteers who are trying to put on an event for the community. I remember when the 4^th was on a Sunday. We had people upset that activities interfered with church. We moved the events to Saturday and then people were upset because that wasn’t the 4^th. The same could be said for the time of the event.
• The City and the County don’t plan events. Let’s face it…they have bigger fish to fry. They do graciously and generously support the events however they can and for that we should thank them. They sometimes support it financially and sometimes with manpower. For example, countless hours of policework to keep all the attendees safe or help from the road department to put out road barriers and traffic cones. They do not plan the parade or the community events.
• You don’t pay their salaries and therefore pay for the event. The events require business support or they don’t happen. It requires businesses stepping forward and sponsoring or donating. Whichever organization is handling the event has likely spent months and months asking for financial assistance to make sure it happens for the public to enjoy. It’s not tax dollars making these events happen.
  • That brings me to another point…there’s a mistaken belief that the Chamber is a government entity paid for by your tax dollars. Truth is we are a membership organization funded by membership dues from those businesses and individuals who join and the money raised from our events.

I think that about covers it. Oh wait….what about the candy? Truth is, we can’t throw candy for insurance reasons. It’s a liability to have kids running out in the street after a tootsie roll.

While I wrote this to correct some misconceptions, my bigger hope is that it encourages more volunteers and support for the people and organizations putting on events in the community. You want a bigger parade? Design a float and encourage your friends to do the same. You want a say in how the events run? Get involved. Do you have constructive suggestions for improvement? Share them with the organizers. And if you like events and want to see more in Klamath, get out and enjoy the ones we have. As attendance grows, so might the number of events you have to attend.