The St Patrick's Day Parade in Des Moines, one of the largest in the Midwest, is in danger this year because the organization that sponsors the parade is facing financial trouble.
The Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick, the group that puts on the parade, have received a 3-year-old bill from the city saying the organization owed $5,000 for hooding parking meters along the parade route. The organization didn't even know about the bill until recently.
“We want to keep doing the parade, but obviously there is the concern if we can continue to do the parade,” Ed Modglin, President of Friendly Sons of St. Patrick’s, told WhoTV.com. “We didn’t really have that kind of money lying around to pay for these extra expenses that kind of caught us off guard.”
While both the city and Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick believe the parade route should be safer, a new crowd control barricade would cost $25,000, money the organization doesn't have.
“We need to do something to try to keep people off the street where the floats are going and children are running out grabbing the candy," said Kandi Reidhl, assistant to the City Manager.
The city is working with the organizers to come up with a plan for all expenses to be paid. For now the parade is still on, but organizers are looking for other ways to cut costs.
Comments