Parade tradition twist brings a price tag

CEDAR RAPIDS - An effort to unite both sides of the Cedar River in an annual event comes with a cost.

The St. Joseph's Day parade, a long-standing tradition in Czech Village in southwest Cedar Rapids, will have a new route today that adds the New Bohemia district in the city's southeast quadrant.

“I think the new route has people excited on both sides of the river,” said Calvin Spinka, Czech Village Association president.

The two historic business districts came under one umbrella in 2009 with the Czech Village/New Bohemia Main Street program and have gradually worked toward becoming one cohesive district.

Spinka, co-owner of the Frame Trader, 72 16th Ave. SW, said the parade is an outward example of that burgeoning cooperation, but the change has a price tag estimated at several thousand dollars.

Previously, the short route on 16th Avenue SW didn't require off-duty police officers, at a cost of about $50 per hour each, plus barricade rentals and other expenses.

Spinka credited volunteers on the Main Street board and a $13,000 grant from city hotel/motel taxes for helping the district move forward with the parade, which begins at 1 p.m. today.

The funding is spread across three major events in the district, however, including Houby Days in May, so Spinka hopes to find sponsors to help cover the costs.

Business owners donate money and volunteer as much as they can, Spinka said, but all are still recovering from the Floods of 2008, which devastated the district.

Sandi Fowler, assistant to the city manager, said the closure of 12th Avenue SE, a major intersection at Third Street SE, created most of the extra expenses.

Off-duty officers are needed to stand at each barricade at any closed street, she said.

The St. Joseph's Parade - a celebration of the saint's March 19 feast day in which participants sport red - is required to have 10 officers and one commander for the new route.

Officers work varying hours, Fowler said, depending on whether they staff the staging area or just the parade.

The St. Patrick's Day Parade Society, or SaPaDaPaSo, hired 14 officers and one commander for its parade last weekend, plus another 10 officers to patrol the crowd for the expected attendance.

Warm weather and the fact the event fell on a Saturday drew a record crowd estimated between 50,000 and 70,000 people.

Jim Glynn, SaPaDaPaSo treasurer, said totals are still being tallied, but the event, supported by volunteers, could cost $10,000 this year.

“It seems like the costs go up every year,” he said.

To compensate - for the first time in years - St. Patrick's Day parade participants had to pay a higher fee of $20 for private or non-profit groups and $50 for commercial entries. Previous entry fees were $5 and $25.

Parade participants are not charged to be in the St. Joseph's Day parade, but Spinka wonders if that might change someday as costs escalate. He said he understands the need to put safety first, adding that private security would have been more affordable at $18 per hour each.

Fowler said the city is not trying to make the festivities cost-prohibitive and, in fact, is supportive of community events such as parades.

She said moving oversight of the special events committee under the City Manager's Office, which happened six months ago, is evidence of that support.

While fundraising walks and races are happening at an increasing frequency, it's rare for the city's traditional parades to change much from year-to-year.

Work on this year's St. Joseph's Day parade, which involved negotiations between the city, Czech Village and New Bohemia districts, has offered a trial run, of sorts, for an even bigger event: this summer's RAGBRAI celebration in Cedar Rapids.

Fowler said efforts are under way to find campgrounds for the 18,000 bicyclists expected to converge on the city during the stop on July 26.

She said the new parade route also could become the standard for other events, including Houby Days and the July 14 opening of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library.

IF YOU GO

Staging for the St. Joseph's Day Parade begins at noon today at Third Street SE between Ninth and 11th avenues SE in the New Bohemia district.

The parade starts at 1 p.m. at Third Street and 11th Avenue SE and goes south along Third Street, turning right at 14th Avenue SE before crossing the Bridge of the Lions, onto 16th Avenue SW through Czech Village. The route turns left on C Street SW, ending at 17th Avenue SW.

Parade entries can register the day of the parade at the staging area.

For more information, go to

www.czechvillagecedarrapids.com