NEWBERRY — The Newberry Jaycees have canceled their annual Downtown Newberry Christmas parade.
At their chapter meeting in the middle of November, the chapter voted to forego the 2020 Christmas Parade traditionally set for the first Saturday in December. This decision was made with the input of the current chapter membership, project chairman and vice-chairman, as well as town officials.
While the community impact organization hoped to be able to hold a safe and enjoyable event for Newberry residents, the judgment was made for the best interest of all those that would have organized, spectated and participated.
“We really hoped to be able to provide this outlet for holiday cheer for the people of Newberry, but we had to make the tough decision to pass on this year’s parade,” Newberry Jaycee Chapter President Joseph Berry said.
With COVID-19 still impacting the Newberry community, the organization felt it was necessary to pull the event to protect the people of this community, according to Berry.
Prior to canceling the event, the Jaycees explored options that included rerouting the parade, limiting spectators, implementing social distancing protocols, and even transitioning to a virtual event. However, the group decided that even with additional measures it would not be able to fully protect the people in the community while still holding this large gathering.
The organization also worked with and sought guidance from City of Newberry officials. Berry was in contact with Chief of Police, Roy McClurkin on the matter throughout the planning period to communicate latest decisions from state and local officials that would impact the event.
“While the final decision was the Jaycees’ to make,”said Berry, “we weighed the input of our partners at the City of Newberry very heavy, and that helped us to feel secure in our decision.”
The Newberry Jaycees also utilize the parade as a fundraiser to fund its community impact projects throughout the holiday season and the year. However, the organization ruled that the hit to the budget was of little consequence and could be made up in other ways in the future, according to Berry.
The parade also provides economic impact to the downtown shops, and without the parade in place the organization encourages residents to visit these vendors throughout the holiday season.
“We enjoy the parade, not just the event itself, but the culmination of the hard work it takes to put something like that together every year,” said Berry. “So it was tough call to make.”
The Jaycees hope that in making this call they can take this time to reevaluate opportunities of growth in this event and come back even stronger in 2021.
“Our members have already begun to bundle up the excitement we had for this year’s parade and apply it to next year’s parade with new ideas, and we hope to have a great turnout on December 4, 2021,” Berry said.