Keep the Mummers Parade safe and enjoyable

Now that volleyball season has ended, my daughter and her friends are reluctantly turning their eyes toward the basketball hoop.

I use "reluctantly" not because they like basketball any less. They just tend to like whatever sport they are in at the moment and don't like for the season to end.


Soon after basketball starts, they will be loving that sport, too.

Then comes spring soccer. The athletic cycle continues.

For now, though, the volleyball jerseys are being packed away and the basketball jerseys are coming out.

The uniform parade matches the transition of the seasons.

The crisp, rustic smells of fall are in the air. Temperatures are falling, but the chill won't be enough to keep thousands of people inside this weekend as the annual Alsatia Mummers Parade marches through town.

When most people think of the parade, they envision marching bands and fire trucks, and rightly so. There typically are numerous bands and rescue vehicles in the parade.

But the parade features more than those. There will be mummers — costumed characters — floats, politicians and athletes.

This weekend our athletic teams will be among the students showcased on a school float in the Alsatia Mummers' Parade. The parade, which is set for Saturday, Oct. 29, will start at 6 p.m. in downtown Hagerstown.

It will be fun for the kids to wear their team jerseys and wave to the people lining the parade route. The float riders aren't allowed to throw candy or distribute literature, according to the Alsatia Club website, www.alsatiaclubinc.com.

I remember that both of those acts have been attempted over the years, but they are both against the parade rules. Units disobeying those rules will be pulled out of the parade.

That would be discouraging after all the work that is put into a float.

It's best to obey the rules, though, to keep parade-watchers safe from flying candy and campaign fliers. Which would inflict more pain? Guess it depends ....

The rules also state that nothing of political, controversial, obscene or anti-religious nature in any form will be permitted in the parade.

Let's hope all the mummers abide by that rule.

If you attend the parade and wonder why the bands seem to keep moving, it's probably because they are.

According to the Alsatia Club website, all movement will be intended to move the unit forward along the parade route. The units are not supposed to stop and perform.

One of the nice things about the parade is that the route is relatively short and it starts early so families can get home at a decent hour.

All our athletes need their beauty rest, after all.



Lisa Tedrick Prejean writes a weekly column for The Herald-Mail's Family page. Send email to her at lisap@herald-mail.com.