Mayor urges volunteers to bring the Christmas parade back
Organizers, sponsors needed after chamber stops being main sponsor
New Berlin — Mayor Jack Chiovatero is pleading, "Let's bring Santa back!" after the New Berlin Chamber of Commerce announced that it will no longer be the main sponsor for the New Berlin Christmas parade.
The parade ended last year after 14 years of elves, bands, blankets, hot chocolate, mittens and Santa.
Even though winter has not quite released its grip, Chiovatero is already thinking about the Christmas parade. A grass-roots effort is needed to bring the parade back, he said in a news release last week. He urged people to volunteer and businesses and groups to become sponsors or organizers and planners of the event.
The time to start planning is now, he wrote.
Chiovatero said he is trying to get the parade on the street again because it has become such a community tradition.
"And I've heard from a lot of people who said they would like to help," he said. "The people said they miss it, let's see if they step up to the plate."
Officials raise awareness
Because the city has its own financial concerns, it cannot afford to sponsor the parade, he said, but it can help raise awareness.
Alderman Thomas Ament who with his daughter, Sherry, were main parade planners for many years when they were both on the Chamber of Commerce board of directors, said he is glad the city is trying to bring the parade back.
"I think it's great for the community," he said. "It was a nice parade - big enough to be enjoyable and it had a local flavor."
He and Sherry have not been on the chamber board since early last year but in the fall they conducted an 11th-hour effort to hold the Christmas parade when the chamber announced it would not do the parade.
The effort failed, but Ament pledged to organize the parade in 2010.
But since the city is trying to resurrect the event, it would be silly to compete with that effort, Ament said.
He applauded the city starting so soon to get the parade going. Potential sponsors have to be contacted early in the year and sponsorship secured over the summer, he said.
Ament said he has not decided whether to shoulder the burden of organizing the parade again. It may be time to hand off to new volunteers, he said.
Focusing on business needs
Three weeks ago, the New Berlin Chamber of Commerce announced that it decided to refocus its efforts on supporting the needs of the New Berlin business community.
"While the parade improves the quality of life for New Berlin residents and is worthwhile event, we did not feel that it supports the broader needs of our members," Chamber President Robert Bruemmer wrote in a news release. "Our future efforts will focus on assisting the membership in growing their businesses for 2010 and beyond."
Bruemmer noted that it was important that the Chamber announce its decision not to be the main sponsor as early as possible to allow the groups and individuals that have expressed interest in putting on a 2010 parade to have a good head start.
"Any quality parade takes months to organize," he wrote.
More information is available from Chamber members Dawn Pliska at office@nb-chamber.org or Jeff DeSpears at jdespears@msn.com , or Melody Styba at mstyba@newberlin.org in the mayor's office.
The chamber will make available all the information it has from past parades.
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