New Christmas Parade Route Is A Success
By: Casie Mason
Updated: November 18, 2012
Its been a busy year for the new organizers of the Evansville Christmas Parade after making the big decision to change the parade route. The idea received mixed reviews. We were there to find out if the new changes were successful.
Every Christmas Parade has exciting things to see but for Evansville, the excitement was not just the candy, the floats, or even Santa. It was instead the excitement about the new parade route. "It was wonderful. We really enjoyed it," says parade fans. When new parade organizers took over this year they decided to make some changes to the annual Evansville event. "This is our first year! We took it out of downtown this year because the North Side Kiwanis and North Side Business Association took on the parade, and so we wanted to bring attention to North Main," says parade organizer Diane Masterson.
Since the Civic Center was built, north-siders have complained that it splits Main Street in to two very different corridors. While business seems to be steady downtown, North Main has a long history of losing businesses and having trouble getting new ones back in. "I think its really awesome to have it here on North Main street. Its a completely different feel to it." says a parade onlooker.
For Tina Dobbs, the annual event isn't one she ever plans to miss. "I think I've only missed one since I was a little kid. Rain, snow, sun, warm, cold, always with my family, I think that with it being kind of spread out a little bit more, it was a lot nicer. Plenty of places for people to sit and not have to worry about three and four people behind you," says Dobbs. "I thought it was a nice change. Not so congested I think as it was in the past. I really liked it," says some parade spectators. Some where there for the atmosphere, others for the big guy himself, but for the little ones in the crowd, it's the little things that made this year's parade truly magical.
Parade organizers tell us about nine thousand people were at today's event. They plan to change the route again next year, this time taking it to Garvin Park.
Every Christmas Parade has exciting things to see but for Evansville, the excitement was not just the candy, the floats, or even Santa. It was instead the excitement about the new parade route. "It was wonderful. We really enjoyed it," says parade fans. When new parade organizers took over this year they decided to make some changes to the annual Evansville event. "This is our first year! We took it out of downtown this year because the North Side Kiwanis and North Side Business Association took on the parade, and so we wanted to bring attention to North Main," says parade organizer Diane Masterson.
Since the Civic Center was built, north-siders have complained that it splits Main Street in to two very different corridors. While business seems to be steady downtown, North Main has a long history of losing businesses and having trouble getting new ones back in. "I think its really awesome to have it here on North Main street. Its a completely different feel to it." says a parade onlooker.
For Tina Dobbs, the annual event isn't one she ever plans to miss. "I think I've only missed one since I was a little kid. Rain, snow, sun, warm, cold, always with my family, I think that with it being kind of spread out a little bit more, it was a lot nicer. Plenty of places for people to sit and not have to worry about three and four people behind you," says Dobbs. "I thought it was a nice change. Not so congested I think as it was in the past. I really liked it," says some parade spectators. Some where there for the atmosphere, others for the big guy himself, but for the little ones in the crowd, it's the little things that made this year's parade truly magical.
Parade organizers tell us about nine thousand people were at today's event. They plan to change the route again next year, this time taking it to Garvin Park.
