This was my first experience directing a parade. I have nothing to compare it to, yet, there are still somethings we will change for next year. Overall Mapleton's 24th of July parade was a success. For a small town like ours we had 1542 participants, 19 primary floats of the 22 primaries, 38 staff volunteers from the 16th ward and my family, 1250 waivers (because families were allowed to list all their children on one form), 57 entries, 19 additional antique vehicles, 22 veterans, 1931 separate hits on the blog, 38 minutes long from first float to last float, one hour from start to finish line and a very successful trash float by the deacons of my ward. And we could have had more. Five entries were denied participation due to late notification and to the fact all the volunteer stations and information packets were printed up.
I have no idea how many watched but someone asked if the parade was shorter than last year. I could only laugh and say it was just a little more efficient. The entries themselves did a fantastic job of minding the gap.
Some things we plan on changing for next year:
Online entry forms
Waivers with Organizations/ward name for ease of filing
Bandaids at the information booth for children who fall down
Horses and those in antique car exhibit have separate exit.
Wider turn around for primary drop off
Photographer assigned to take pictures of the floats
Make sure all entries that have children not arriving on their float dropped off at the primary drop off for safety
Seems pretty minor to me.
Some of my favorite things were:
Getting to know Beth Bird who has lived in Mapleton for 75 years.
Working with the Allan's as Grand Marshalls who have done so much for this community.
The people who loaned us the golf carts so we could cart the veterans from their check in location to their transportation.
Working with the Model A drivers. And even though some got lost, I sure enjoyed the the ride in the Rolls Royce from India as I escorted them to their landing spot. I just wanted to honk that cute little horn!
The missionaries serving in our mission
The beautiful floats- so many really did a fantastic job!
The horses and their wonderful pooper scoopers!
The veterans who we were able to honor.
The Stake Primary presidencies who showed up and pitched in to help the kids so willingly!
The volunteers from my ward that pitched in!
My staff- Nicole Hill, Elisa Hassler, Laura Snyder and Sharee Kilpack who made all the difference!
The police department who so willingly allowed me to try my changes for this year and think they are worth the effort for years to come.
This really was a home town parade. And I am grateful I got to be a part of it. Look forward to next year. Stay tuned cause this is where you will find all the information, entry forms and more.
Kim Kehrer
Parade Chair
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