Worth a try

It would be easy to dump on organizers for deciding to make this year’s Santa Claus parade here a “stationary” one.
Pure lunacy, you say? An abomination that dares to mess with the tradition of jolly St. Nick waving to the children from his sleigh?
There’s no question the idea of having floats parked along Scott Street for most of the day, instead of driving by in the traditional parade format, is a radical one. It’s unusual, to say the least, and perhaps too far-fetched to fly here.
But desperate times call for desperate measures, as they say, and there’s no doubt our annual Santa Claus parade has been on a downward spiral of late. With less than a dozen floats taking part last year, it’s clear something needed to be done to help revive it.
Whether a “stationary” parade is the answer remains to be seen. But it is worth a try.
The alternative, of course, is not to have a parade at all. And surely no one wants to see that.
If that’s the case, however, the community has to demonstrate the parade is worth saving. If fewer and fewer floats are being entered, and fewer residents are bothering to line the route, it definitely will fall by the wayside.
On the bright side, the idea to stage a “stationary” parade certainly has stirred debate on the issue—which hopefully translates into action so yet another local tradition doesn’t teeter into oblivion due to a lack of interest.