i am organizing a parade. more specifically, the kiddie day parade, which is a *huge* event here and the largest community service project our kiwanis club sponsors. last year, about 200 kids participated.

and i am starting from the ground up. the woman who organized the event for the last several years is no longer in our club and “misplaced” all her computer files and documents regarding it. in other words, she *deleted* them out of spite. how very mature of her.

but, that’s ok. i already have lots of ideas that will blow any parade she put together out of the water. usually, after the kids parade through town, we have refreshments and activities for them in front of city hall. every year, the past organizer used inflateables for the kids to play on. those are fun, but i think it’s time to change it up a bit and get away from the same-old, same-old.

i am proposing a fair atmosphere. i am going to contact the minor league baseball team in rome to see if we can get a few players to come, meet the kids and give autographs; i think a face painting booth would be fun; and i would like to have a few fair-type games, such as tossing softballs into buckets. i want something that is low-maintenance but a lot of fun for the kids.

do you have any other suggestions?

i’m also going to contact local businesses about being sponsors for t-shirts, which i’m going to have to start on asap.

it’s going to be busy between now and september, but it’s ok. i’m up to the challenge.