Annual Parade Postponed To This Sunday At Noon

The Falmouth High School Choir, directed by Frederick Johnson, poses on the stern of the Patriot Too before arriving with Santa at the Flying Bridge Restaurant in Falmouth Inner Harbor Saturday, part of last weekend’s Falmouth Holidays-By-The-Sea celebration. PETER COOK/ENTERPRISE

FALMOUTH- First it was raining, then snowing, then clear. Sunday morning’s fickle weather posed challenges for Falmouth Chamber of Commerce officials who had to make a last-minute decision to postpone the 45th annual Christmas Parade to Sunday, December 14.
Christopher J. Megan, chairman of the board of directors of the Falmouth Chamber, said he worked with the chamber’s parade committee on the decision to postpone the event for one week, and it was not an easy decision to make.
“It was raining and it was supposed to turn to ice and snow,” Mr. Megan said. That forecast meant that a number of parade entries—including some marching bands and horses pulling carriages—would not have participated.
In addition, the inclement weather forecasted and potentially slippery conditions brought up safety concerns for others in the parade, like the 60 children in the Falmouth Youth Hockey program who were planning to rollerblade down the route and also the many children riding floats in the parade.
But the rescheduling means the event is on the same day as several events next weekend, and Mr. Megan said the original intention was not to compete with other events.
Specifically, one of the performances of the Cape Cod Dance Center’s 13th annual presentation of “The Nutcracker” is at 2 PM Sunday at the Lawrence School. The other performance of the ballet is on Saturday, December 13, at 7 PM. There is also a Falmouth Chorale Holiday Concert on Sunday at the First Congregational Church on the Falmouth Village Green at 3 PM. The other time for the chorale concert is Saturday at 3 PM.
The parade is scheduled to kick off on Sunday at noon from Falmouth Mall. The parade begins at the intersection of Worcester Court and Jones Road and travels down Main Street to the Village Green. It usually takes two to three hours.
The new date for the parade also brings up issues with parking. The Lawrence School lot is traditionally used for parade spillover parking and also as a staging area for floats to be taken apart after the parade. Because of “The Nutcracker” at the Lawrence School, parking for the parade may be shifted to the Falmouth Ice Arena parking area, Mr. Megan said.
Decisions about traffic and parking will be made at a parade committee meeting tomorrow afternoon, Mr. Megan said.
He also said he hoped people could “keep the holiday celebration going” and attend more than one event, perhaps the parade and then “The Nutcracker” or the choral concert.
In the event of severe weather this weekend, any changes in the parade will be announced no later than 2:30 PM Saturday on the following radio and television stations, and websites: Audible Local Ledger online at audiblelocalledger.org; Falmouth Community Television, FCTV 13; WCAI-FM/WGBH 90.1, 91.1, 94.3 FM; WCIB-FM/COOL 102 (at 101.9 FM); WCOD 106.1 FM; WFCC 107.5; WKPE/Cape 104 (at 103.9 FM); WMVY Radio 92.7; WOCN/OCEAN 104.7 (at 104.7 FM); WRZE The Rose 96.3 FM; WQRC 99.9 FM; and WXTK 95.1 FM.
A weather-related announcement will also be available online on the home page of the Falmouth Chamber at falmouthchamber.com or by phone at the chamber office beginning at 10 AM the day of the event at 508-548-8500.