Parades, Policies and Protection

Much ado was made before the hometown parade on July 4 about water, specifically its projection in balloons or from hoses. In the end, the fire trucks rolled, the hoses sprayed, and no one, so far as we know, complained about that.
But we think Stanley Cohen was right to be concerned about safety. Cohen, of course, is presently mayor of the City of Sonoma, and he has been serving for several years as the parade director for the Sonoma Community Center, which organizes the July 4 parade each year. And unfortunately, some confusion arose this year, when as parade director he issued a notice that went out through the city’s office on city letterhead. That put at least one member of the city council in an awkward position, as it led members of the public to assume that the notice reflected a city council decision.
But safety should be a paramount concern for both the council and the community center. Participants in the parade have an expectation that they will be free from attack. For the high school cheerleaders, at least, that was not the case, as a pack of young teen boys, or several packs, followed the cheerleading team along First Streets East and West and lobbed a large number of water balloons into their midst, with many direct hits.
Now we, as much as the next persons, enjoy cool water on hot days in its many applications, and who doesn’t enjoy watching the delight of young children running through spray from the fire hoses? So we hate to “rain on the parade,” but it’s not inconceivable that someone could have been hurt. Especially worrisome are the children running around, and in front of, the fire trucks. Those trucks were not designed for visibility of youngsters close to the vehicle, and wet pavement is slippery.
These were Cohen’s issues, and they were issues at the city council meeting last Monday, too. Someone made the bright suggestion that a fire volunteer should walk in front of each truck, communicating with the driver and observing the activity in areas that the driver can’t see. We’d like to suggest that more parade stewards be recruited; it seemed that there were fewer this year, though perhaps not. In addition to moving the parade along – important when the weather is as hot as it was this year – their presence may help quell the exuberance of youths bearing water balloons.
Actually, the item for the council’s consideration, brought forward by council member August Sebastiani, was the possibility of parking trucks along the parade route again, for optimum viewing. In fact, we had been reminiscing about keeping the perfect block of wood in the truck all year, just to prop under the right front tire on July 3 and on the appropriate evening in September. But as was noted, many more folks can be seated in a parking space (and on the curb behind) than could perch on the truck. With so many people attending now to watch the parade, the days of the viewing trucks may be gone.
Some of us had occasion to ride this year, with press-on mutton-chops in Vallejo’s honor, on the float for KSVY 91.3 Sonoma. We remarked on the preponderance of adults in the audience, as there were so many children in the parade instead of watching it. And that seems like another sign of the times – children, even in Slo-noma, are involved in a vast array of activities, including scouting, music, athletics and martial arts.
We commend the parade organizers and participants again. Sonoma is a great place to spend the Fourth of July, and the rest of the year, too.