Planning for Bloomington area parades underway

With temperatures in the teens and below, many Bloomington residents are looking forward to warmer temperatures and the chance to get out and enjoy city festivities.

This includes an array of parades and festivals. City officials said planning for some of those parades and festivals is already underway.

Three parades taking place in the Bloomington area — including the Bloomington Fourth of July parade, the Monroe County Fall Festival in Ellettsville and Harrodsburg Heritage Days Festival — require months of preparation.

Bill Ream, community events coordinator for the Bloomington Parks and Recreation department, said in an email the planning process for the Fourth of July Parade begins when the committee selects the theme in late January to early February. After the theme is selected, it’s time to seek sponsors and ensure the technicalities of the event are in motion.

“Over the next few months, the committee works on a variety of tasks necessary to hold the parade including securing the sponsors, obtaining all necessary permits, securing the staging lots, hiring security, renting equipment needed and securing the help of the police departments,” Ream said.

Monroe County fall festival parade director Anne Howard said she and her committee of volunteers adopted a similar approach.

Howard said the committee begins meeting in March and works throughout the year to plan the parade, select a theme, get proper permits and select grand marshals.

Because the parade route includes Indiana State Road 46, permissions from the Indiana Department of Transportation also need to be obtained, Howard said.

The parade included in the festivities for Harrodsburg Heritage Days required nearly a year of preparation, said chairman of the parade and Clear Creek Township trustee Thelma Kelley Jeffries .

The parade requires the closing of Popcorn Road, as well as planning and preparation to organize and number all of the parade entries.

Jeffries said the parade has had as many as 150 entries and in previous years has attracted a crowd of about 4,000 people. Jeffries said a state official from Indianapolis once visited the parade and was astonished by what they saw.

“They were amazed that a small community could do what we’re doing,” Jeffries said.  
Keeping order among so many parade entries and participants could get a little hectic, Jeffries said, but that was all part of the process.

“We do have some mess-ups, but there was also a mess-up in the Rose Bowl Parade this year so I don’t feel so bad,” Jeffries said

In recent years, there has been a decline in participants for the committees for both the Heritage Days and the Fall Festival.

“We have lost so many people that were on the founding side of the parade,” Jeffries said. “We need to get more young people involved with the Heritage Days.”
Howard said her committee has also experienced a loss in numbers as the members have grown older.

“There are maybe six other people besides the officers that put on the festival — they literally do everything,” Howard said. “I’m really afraid that if the younger generation doesn’t step up, this could be no more.”

However, even after months of planning, Howard said it was worth it to see the excitement on the faces of the young children in attendance. She also said she hoped to create an unforgettable experience for all who attended the Fall Festival.

“You always remember parades,” Howard said. “It’s something that is still innocent in the world.”