POTTSTOWN — There will be no Halloween Parade in the borough again this year, Borough Manager Justin Keller announced.
Last year, the Pottstown Rotary Club, which had sponsored the parade for many years and also runs the July 4the parade, announced that increased costs and diminished donations, made it impractical to sponsor the parade.
But last year’s parade was revived when Hobart’s Run, the neighborhood revitalization organization funded by The Hill School, joined up with the school, the Pottstown Parks and Recreation Department, the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation, Pottstown Hospital, and state Sen. Tracy Pennycuick and state Rep. Joe Ciresi to jumpstart the effort.
The Pottstown chapter of the NAACP worked behind the scenes to bring the partners together to get the parade back up and running.
It looks unlikely that will happen again this year.
In August, Pottstown NAACP chapter President Johnny Corson let people know that the organization could not afford to sponsor the parade again in 2024.
“The parade has suffered due to several factors over the years,” Keller said on Wednesday. “First there were significant security issues for police and staff by having the parade at night, so it was moved to be held during the day time on a Saturday.”
“But we got a lot of pushback from the downtown merchants having it on a Saturday, with issues about parking and deliveries and they already have those issues with the car shows held every month during the summer,” Keller continued. “The parade was then moved to a Sunday and interest waned considerably.”
“Throughout all of our experience, we have observed that parades are most successful when they are held on the day during a holiday. Further, the borough depends on external organizations to manage events of this scale. The parks and rec staff does not have the capacity to handle events like this alone,” said Keller.
Saying these events work best when they are planned at least six months in advance, Keller said “if funding suddenly becomes available I believe it would be much more prudent to allocate it to next year’s parade. Last year the NAACP tried to organize a parade at the last minute and through no fault of their own, and we appreciate their efforts, it was not up to the quality and number of participants we’re used to.”
“We need to remember that a poorly executed event can harm the town’s image rather than benefit it,” he said.
Source: Berkshire mont
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