All groups and individuals planning to be in the Bell Tower Festival parade are alerted that there will not be a shuttle to take them to the parade staging area at the middle school.
The Rotary Club of Jefferson has organized and presented the parade for 30 years. Jefferson-Scranton and now Greene County Schools has provided buses and drivers Saturday morning to shuttle parade participants from downtown to the middle school. Unfortunately, the school district is unable to secure drivers for the shuttle service this year. No shuttles will be available.
“The most significant issue this causes is that there is a severe lack of parking for vehicles at the middle school, since most the parking lots are taken up by parade entries,” parade chair Rotarian Sam Harding said. “We are asking all parade participants to talk to the people who will be riding or walking with their entry to not plan to park a vehicle at the middle school.”
“Instead, we are going to expand our drop-off system to assure that everyone can get to their parade entry and participate in the parade,” Harding continued.
Ram Drive and Chestnut St will be one-way streets Saturday morning. Parade participants should approach the school from Highway 4. Once on Ram Drive, the drivers of floats and parade entries should keep to the right to register and get their place in the parade line-up. Persons who are dropping off people who are riding on floats (class reunion groups or church groups, for should stay to the left. After dropping off passengers, those drivers can continue north on Chestnut.
Organizers of class reunions are asked to let their classmates know there will be no shuttle and encourage coordinating between out-of-town guests and local classmates to be sure everyone is dropped off at the middle school. Also, since there is no shuttle after the parade, those who park in one of the few limited spaces will need to walk back to the middle school or get a ride there after the parade. “It will most certainly be better for them to be able to get off your float just a block or so from downtown,” Harding said.
The parade will end at the Greene County Historical Museum one block east of Chestnut St on Lincoln Way.
Also, there is a large youth livestock event being held at the county fairgrounds this weekend. There will be no parking at the fairgrounds this year.
All parade entries should plan to arrive at the middle school no later than 10 am so the parade can be properly staged and “ready to roll” promptly at 11 am. Entries being judged should arrive by 9:30 to make sure then can be staged in time for judging.
“We thank you for your help in making this system work, and we loo forward to seeing you Saturday morning. Let’s make this parade one of the best ever,” Harding said.
