Grinch cancels parade

By Mountain Democrat
From page A4 | 4 Comments

For 35 years — rain or shine — there has been a Christmas Parade in downtown Placerville on the first Sunday in December. So what happens the first year the city of Placerville takes it over? It wimps out and cancels the event due to a little rain.

The parade has always taken place in sunshine and in some terrific downpours and storms, snow and freezing temperatures.

Did no one at City Hall watch the TV weather forecast? Everyone else saw that the rain was going to end by noon. It ended before then. The parade was supposed to start at 1 p.m. By then sunshine was peeking through the clouds.

The city didn’t just screw up the 36th parade, but it threw a monkey wrench into the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program. All parade participants were to bring a toy for the Toys for Tots program. Some often brought lots of toys. And barrels set out by the Belltower were filled by bystanders.

The organizers of this year’s Toys for Tots program will have their barrels out by the Belltower this weekend. Bring your toy or cash donations 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 8 and 9 to the Belltower. Gifts can be for boys and girls ages birth to 13. And if you can’t drop them off at the Belltower this weekend, there are boxes all over town where they can be dropped off including the Mountain Democrat, Wal-Mart, Kmart, Raley’s, Thompson’s Toyota or GMC store, Cuppa Coffee, Kelsey’s Needle Krafts , River City Bank, Arian’s Supply Sergeant or go to the Website for more information at edt4t.org, call 530-344-9384, or e-mail edt4t@gmail.com.

City management staff ought to get out of Grinch mode and help out Saturday and Sunday.

Mountain Democrat

View all my stories Email Me

Discussion | 4 comments

The Mountain Democrat does not necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy

CherylDecember 05, 2012 - 8:53 am
Couldn't the parade have been re-scheduled for this coming sunday? Some participants would probably not be able to attend, but I'm sure others would have been able to. For the sake of Toys for Tots and sales for local merchants it seems something could have been done.
Report abusive comment
From A ChiefDecember 05, 2012 - 11:22 am
A public statement from a chief saving the Grinch's reputation http://youtu.be/zBXZxYjYonA
Report abusive comment
Steve RogersDecember 05, 2012 - 10:10 pm
Who's Shanon Baker?
Report abusive comment
PaulDecember 08, 2012 - 8:11 am
Have you ever considered that it was not safe to proceed with the parade last Sunday? Safety was the reason for the cancellation. At 8:00 a.m., the parade organizers were still hoping that the wind, rain and potential lightning would subside. But as the morning continued, the weather did not clear. I was at the head of the parade route at 11:45 a.m. to help turn away anyone who was thinking the parade would occur. Grinch didn't cancel the parade. The organizers made a decision based on safety. Fortunately, someone had some sense.
Report abusive comment