How long will we be scared of our youth?
By canceling and postponing many of our traditional events around the city, we are simply saying that The Thugs Have Won. Until we get back to some arbitrary degree of modicum, I guess we’ll be instructed to... ‘Hide your wife, Hide your kids.’
I was hoping to get some clarity for the Mother’s Day Parade cancellation from the Chester Spirit article, but it only raised more questions than answers.
Answers
- The parade was in financial jeopardy.
- Mayor Butler marshaled $6,000 in private resources to have the Chester Republican Party as a parade sponsor.
- Parade was cancelled out of concerns for public safety, according to organizers.
- Sources said parade organizers got wind of violent threats targeting parade participants that may or may not have been liked to the Minaret shootings.
- Organizers decided to cancel the event altogether and the mayor supported their decision.
Questions
- How much does a parade cost?
- Was $6,000 enough or was the parade looking for more money?
- What violent threats were so strong that forced organizers to cancel the parade?
- Who are the parade organizers and why are sources unnamed?
It’s a beautiful day for a parade.
I looked forward to seeing the children who have been practicing for months to show off their drill teams. I love seeing Ms. Chester Pageant winners from the tiniest to the teens. I was looking forward to seeing the Chester High Basketball team and their trophy once again. I enjoy seeing the fraternal organizations and all their pageantry. I even enjoy seeing all the politicians walk the streets as they introduce their candidacy for the upcoming midterm elections.
We all know the parade is a shell of its old self, but the real parade is on the neighborhood sidewalks where many come out to see one another for the first time this spring, and see the ones that come home for Mother’s Day that you haven’t seen in a long while.
But, The Thugs Have Won and beat down the Mother’s Day Parade. How an act of violence can occur in broad daylight on a parade route full of people, police, and witnesses seems like a low risk situation.
But next month, right after graduation, there will be a bootleg parade down 9th Street that won’t cost anyone a dime and shots will surely be fired around town.
The peaceful parade is cancelled. Let’s see how graduation is handled.
This is not a city. It is a war zone. Is this still America? Does anyone care?
ReplyDeleteI guess I read too many Philadelphia papers. They blow off 4 heads every weekend to the tune of about 1 violent murder a day averaged over a year in a few neighborhoods. That's a war zone. My Philly friends see Chester as a quiet suburb. One a month vs. one a day is a huge difference.
ReplyDeleteRatio.
ReplyDeletePhilly has about, what, 1.5 million people?
Chester, 10,000
Ratio-wise, Chester is an abomination.
I wonder, comparatively, how many other 10000 populous town have the level of violence that what make them cancel all of their parades and what they do about it.
Narrow that ratio down to the few philly neighborhoods with steady violence. All of philly isn't a war zone.
ReplyDelete