The Wallingford Kiddie Parade, heading into its 61st year and scheduled for July 10, 2010, hit a bump in the parade route recently, but thanks to an (ahem) authoritatively written e-mail from Wallingford’s own Janet Stillman to the SDOT, the show goes on…this year, at least.
Apparently, as part of a set of budget cuts, the city announced that they would not be paying for the cost of shutting down the streets for the parade (somewhere around $1,500 – $2,000), and asked the parade to pay for it, itself. The parade, which has been put on by the Wallingford Neighborhood Office since 2003 (and the Wallingford Community Council for a few years before that, and then by the Wallingford Chamber of Commerce before that, going back to 1949), doesn’t make any money. It’s free to participate in, and the few $600 sponsorships they sell generally cover the $2,600 or so it usually costs to put on. The additional money would have “broke the bank”.
Rest easy, kiddies. The SDOT’s Peter Hahn responded to Janet’s missive with a concession:
we think it is better and timelier to have this kind of policy discussion as part of the careful deliberations of the 2011 Budget. Including event support reductions in the midyear 2010 budget revision is too precipitous. You and others, such as all of the Seafair events, do not have enough time to adjust your event planning and budgeting.Therefore, I am committing to you that 2010 program reductions submitted by SDOT will not include reductions in event support, and we will look for alternative midyear reductions.
(Photo from 1950ish, pinched from Paul Dorpat’s blog, from the collection of Stan Stapp)
What are the actual costs for our beloved parade? Buying lunch for the SeaFair Officials, purchasing trophies for the winning drill teams. One Porta-Potty. Posters are donated (artwork making and printing) and volunteers post them. Water and snacks are donated. Perhaps there is a city permit to be an official SeaFair event. If Janet Stillman’s office time is compensated, there’s that. I believe it is the Street Fair that costs $$. Love the parade except for the name (Kiddies) and it has been a homemade one with virtually no overhead in my experience (since 1989).
FYI. The good news about the Wallingford Seafair Kiddies Parade is that we received the quote from National Barricades and it isn’t as bad as we thought it might be. Our neighborhood donors and sponsors can cover the additional parade costs. So as long as the city continues to provide the police presence, we could handle it without them paying for the barricades. The largest sponsor of the parade is the neighbors who donate to the Neighborhood Office. Other sponsors of the paradeare: Dunn Lumber, Patty Allen, Tweedy & Popp, Seattle Orthopedic Center, Systems Biology and MyWallingford blog. So when you see these people, thank them for supporting our neighborhood kids.
Will someone please give an idea of the actual parade costs vs. the street fair costs and the shared costs (if any). Also, a listing of what is donated (sound system, grandstand, not $$) – that makes it easy for people to thank those folks.
-Retired parade director