Parade of Lights drew thousands to Downtown Lodi
The 22nd annual Parade of Lights, presented by the Kiwanis Club of the Greater Lodi area, was a huge success, according to event organizer and Kiwanis member Chet Somera.
Somera estimated that a crowd of 40,000 spectators filled the sidewalks of Downtown Lodi to watch the lightcovered cars, trucks and floats ease their way down the street.
However, behind all the magic, excitement, glitz and glamour of the parade, there was a lot of volunteer hours that went into making the event a success.
“There is certainly a lot of planning that we do with this parade. We go several months ahead of time just in the planning, and also there is a debriefing afterwards, so we can look at what had taken place and we can do better next time,” Somera said.
Despite all the hard work and long hours that go into organizing the parade, Somera said it’s worth it to be able to bring joy to the community.
“It’s so worth it to look into the faces of the children that are there and the way that their faces just brighten up when this parade goes through,” Somera said. “I saw some of the retirement homes where they had two buses that were coming through and these are the elderly that just don’t get out a whole lot, but to look into their faces and see the happiness it brings them was also worth it.”
With this being the Kiwanis Club’s second year organizing the parade, Somera said it went much smoother than last year.
The Kiwanis-sponsored Key Club and Circle Club came out and assisted with picking up trash following the parade and the job was completed by 11 p.m. on Thursday night, Somera said.
Eight large trash totes provided by Waste Management were placed along the parade route and they also had two dumpsters that they put out as well. On Friday morning, they paid the United Cerebral Palsy Organization to come out and make sure they didn’t miss anything.
“I drove by early this morning and you couldn’t even tell that there was any type of event that went on. I’m very blessed that we had a number of our Kiwanis, Key Club and Circle K people that came out and assisted to clean it all up,” Somera said.
While overall the parade was a success, Somera said that there were a few challenges with organizing the parade. Making sure all the applications, descriptions and insurance for the parade participants were all up to date was a challenge, Somera said. Besides that, he didn’t feel like they faced too many challenges.
One thing that stood out this year were the chairs. The sidewalks of Downtown Lodi began to fill with chairs as early as Tuesday.
“I have noticed that there were a couple of issues here and there with some of the local business owners Downtown versus other people putting their chairs out,” Somera said. “I can certainly understand the concerns on both sides. The people putting the chairs are pretty excited about the event that’s coming to the city and they just want to stake out their spot so they can have a nice spot. On the other hand, where you have the businesses that are trying to stay open, now you have all the chairs lining the sidewalk, making it difficult for people to park and then get into the business. That is a concern.”
Somera said he doesn’t know what the solution would be, and at this point there is really nothing much he can do about it because the Kiwanis Club’s encroachment permit does not allow them to close anything off until 4 p.m. the day of the event.
Downtown Business Alliance President John Della Monica said that despite the hassle, the chairs may have caused, most people were just happy to see all the people filling the streets of Downtown.
“Everyone was ecstatic about the participation in the light parade growing so much every year. I spoke to the president of the WOW Museum and I spoke to several business owners in town, and they were all overjoyed over seeing the crowds on the street growing each year with the parade’s expansion each year. When it comes to setting the holiday tone for Lodi the parade has a great amount of capacity to be that catalyst,” Della Monica said.
According to Della Monica, people were able to put up with the chairs and some of the obstructions they may have created because they were just as excited for the parade as anyone else. The Kiwanis Club did a great job with organizing the parade, he said.
While the amount of money raised from the parade is not yet known, Somera wanted to remind everyone that 100 percent of the proceeds will go back into the community.