It's a shame to see a break in the Burbank On Parade tradition after
23 years.
Last week, Joanne Miller, vice president and chairwoman of the
parade committee, announced that the parade will go dark this year
because it is lacking volunteers.
While there is a core group of 20 to 25 volunteers who plan the
parade, it takes 100 volunteers to come out on parade day to help,
Miller said.
The committee plans to recruit more volunteers from community
groups and clubs to help produce next year's event, Miller said last
week.
That statement seems to be an echo from last year when the
committee, also saying it was battling with the lack of volunteers,
vowed to start a campaign to seek out fresh volunteers. Either the
committee didn't follow through with the new volunteers campaign, or
maybe no one was interested.
Perhaps after 23 years, the parade has run its course and there is
no interest by the community to continue the tradition.
City Manager Mary Alvord has said, in the past, that the city
wants to see the parade continue and will continue to provide it
financial assistance as well as a city-staff liaison, who works with
the parade committee to ensure that all runs smoothly on parade day.
Maybe the answer is for the city of Burbank to take the reigns
from the committee and plan the event.
Another possible solution is to have every service club and
woman's club in town provide one volunteer to join a committee to
organize the parade.
It seems a fresh team with new ideas is needed to get this parade
back on course.
The parade is something the community looks forward to each year.
High school marching bands, drill and dance teams, equestrian and
novelty groups representing this city as well as cities throughout
Los Angeles travel to Burbank to participate.
It's a great day for Burbank to put on its best face and introduce
visitors to the hometown feel of our community.
Boy and Girl Scout troops and Indian Guides and Maidens ride on
the back of decorated trucks and wave or sing to the people they pass
who are perched on the curb or in beach chairs.
Those watching the parade see old friends from high school,
neighbors and other acquaintances and catch up on the events that
have happened in their lives over the year.
We encourage individuals and community groups to volunteer some
time to refresh Burbank On Parade and make next year's event a
spectacular one everyone will remember and be proud of.
