Freedom Day Parade

The parade that occurs on each Becker Freedom Day celebration takes a good deal of time and effort from all the participants as well as city staff. Some people like Walt Doring take considerable pride in showing off his tractors requiring weeks of advance preparation with cleaning, tuning and getting drivers. Others show up with a new or existing equipment to advertise their business, all in the name of fun, handing out candy or other items to parade watchers. The bands, horses and clowns are all appreciated.

This year was no different in terms of parade watchers. We had, I believe, a record number of participants. What was different was the way the parade was set up and managed this year. Jamie Cassidy set up a Freedom Days Committee this year to address all aspects of the days festivities. One change which was made was the assigning of "slots" or numbers for each participant. In the past the parade was set up mostly on a first come first serve basis with certain participants having select locations. As an example the fire equipment that attends are lined up on County Rd 24 and are first to go through the parade. They do this to have an avenue of escape to answer emergencies if the need arises. This happened last year with the Clear Lake Fire Department as they didn't make the parade but were lined up and ready to go when an emergency changed their plans.

The first come first serve approach worked well but had its pitfalls. It required participants to get lined up early if they wanted to be near the front of the parade. It also prompted problems with participants who were on a float that couldn't find the float. What would happen is they would drive up and down the parade lineup looking for their float. Lots of traffic was generated and some frustration occurred with this activity. The solution came with the assigning of numbers for each participant. With preregistration participants received a number and gave information concerning what type of entry they were participating with. With that in hand the proper amount of space was planned for. Stakes were then placed along the parade line up area and participants lined up. Those people who knew the number were directed to the appropriate location. Traffic hazards were reduced significantly, more order was achieved in the line up, and people could show up closer to the start of the parade rather than get there early. Many favorable comments were received from participants.

This didn't happen by itself as a lot of people who volunteered made this happen. The Freedom Days Committee needs to be congratulated and thanked for their good work. The parade organizers who worked to make it orderly that day also need to be thanked as we had a great parade. I hope you have fun enjoying the parade.