Jaycees establish new parade guidelines

It’s been said a picture is worth a thousand words. A Courier-Post photo from last year’s July 4 parade in Hannibal, showing spectators surging into the street, helped convince members of the Hannibal Jaycees, the organizers of National Tom Sawyers Days, that steps were needed to make the parade a safer event.
“The picture was really an eye-opener. I had no idea it was that congested down through there,” said Rhonda Stevenson, one of this year’s NTSD co-chairwomen. “Our concern was a little kid would run out between a couple of parked cars and get hit.”
While the Hannibal Police Department is going to be prohibiting parking along the parade route from 12:01 a.m. Friday, July 4, through the end of the parade, the Jaycees are instituting some new guidelines for those in the parade. One guideline is to no longer allow candy to be tossed into the street.
“They’re instructing them (parade participants), whatever handouts they’re giving, whether it be candy or toys, to hand it out into the crowd or toss it into the crowd. That will be advantageous,” said Hannibal Police Chief Lyndell Davis, who praised the Jaycees for their cooperation.
“That should help with some of the congestion when little kids run out in the street,” said Stevenson of the distribution change.
The Jaycees are also taking steps to keep closer tabs on what is happening during the parade.
“Right now when you register for the parade we have a waiver you have to sign saying you will abide by all our safety rules,” said Stevenson. “We’ll not allow any burnouts, or speeding up and then slamming on their brakes.
“All of our entries are going to be numbered. That’s to help the police and us identify who is not following the rules so we can have a conversation with them afterwards. If it’s bad enough I think they’re even talking about not letting them in the parade next year.”
Most people at the parade do not appreciate reckless driving by parade participants, according to Davis.
“We’ve had complaints of people doing wheelies or burning their tires and endangering the crowd,” he said. “Now hopefully we will be able to identify the entry or individual that’s causing that problem and if we can’t do anything about it at the time, we can notify the Jaycees.”
It is possible that someone not abiding by the parade rules could be asked to leave the parade.
“I think the police would ask them to leave,” said Stevenson. “We’re going to try and have spotters throughout the parade to watch for that stuff because we don’t want anybody getting hurt.”
While pre-registration is encouraged, late parade entries will still be accepted.
“The last-minute registrations will go toward the back of the parade,” said Stevenson. “We have to let everybody who pre-registered first go ahead and then we’ll fill in the back with the people who signed up that day.”
Because the carnival is set up on Broadway, this year’s parade route will be shorter.
“The parade usually runs all the way down to Main and takes a left or right onto Main Street,” said Stevenson. “This year we’ve had to shorten the parade. It’s going to turn right on Fourth Street and then come back up and around Church Street to disperse.”
Stevenson anticipates more people will be packed into a smaller area in order to watch the parade.
“A lot of people watch it on Main Street,” she said. “We hate that it’s shorter, but we didn’t know what our alternative would be. The city and police are just working so hard to help us with all of our changes. We’re trying to keep it as simple as we can for them.”