By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Decatur Mayor Dan Rickord, who pushed hard to bring greater safety to the city’s annual Callithumpian Parade, expressed at the latest city council meeting his appreciation to all involved this year.
“Thanks goes to everyone who helped in any way with the parade, the volunteers, everyone – everyone who wanted this to be a safe parade,” he said.
“Everyone wanted to be on the same page … and it really worked.”
The mayor pointed to the cooperation from youngsters. “The kids listened well; I think a lot of that had to do with the school (announcements),” he said “And all the people who attended cooperated.”
Last year’s parade was acknowledged by Rickord and Police Chief Kevin Gerber to be a “chaotic” event. The former said afterward that changes would be made.
Those changes involved the placing of orange and blue traffic cones along both sides of the parade route, spaced some 20 feet apart and placed two feet off the curb.
Parade-goers were instructed to stay behind the cones and those handing out candy were told to get it inside the cones.
A group of people who volunteered walked the streets, helping monitor the safety measures and offering assistance if requested.
Given ideal weather, the parade – which began in 1914 – drew one of the largest crowds ever.
“People who were in the parade said it (keeping youngsters and adults out of the streets) was the best they had ever seen,” the mayor said.
“ It was very safe – so thank you to everyone!”
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