Santa Claus Fails to Show Up at Denville Holiday Parade
The Daily Record, the paper-of-record in Morristown, NJ, reports that Santa Claus failed to show up at the Denville Holiday Parade. For those in our world-wide audience who have never been to Denville for the Holiday Parade, it is a big deal for our home town (population 14,000), and a fixture on the calendar on the weekend after Thanksgiving for at least 20 years.
This is a big embarassment for the Denville Fire Department and the Chamber of Commerce, two organizations that have traditionally worked to raise funds and organize the parade. Of course we feel bad for them, since all of the members of these organizations are volunteers.
The parade is also a key component of the fundraising effort of the Joey Bella Fund, a local organization that provides resources to families with children that are afflicted with catastrophic illnesses.
We were particularly disappointed to hear that many groups who had agreed to march instead chose to "mail it in"; They failed to show up for the parade. According to the Daily Record:
But while a group of bagpipers showed up, other scheduled marching bands did not. A parade that normally lasts 1 1/2 hours took less than half that long to complete.
We think that the selection of Sunday as a date for the parade was a dumb idea, but, the organizations who did not show up ought to be ashamed of themselves. Many outdoor events like parades have rain dates, but just as many do not. Anyone who signs up to march in a parade ought to have the sense to find out if it will take place "rain or shine", and then live up to the commitment.