Our View: Parade Whiplash

The back-and-forth changes to Chatham’s Independence Day parade route remind us of Pogo Dave, the popular parade participant whose schtick is to make a lot of noise with a variety of Rube Goldberg-like contraptions. He puts a smile on people’s faces, but just as often leaves parade watchers scratching their heads over exactly what he was doing.

 The Chatham Select Board pogoed back and forth in recent weeks over the popular procession’s route. Last month, at the request of the Independence Day parade committee and the town’s public safety officials, the board agreed to change the long-standing route. Instead of heading down Main Street to Crowell Road and then to Lake Street — an elongated version of a route that’s been in place for decades — the board approved a change that sent the parade down Old Harbor Road at the downtown rotary.

 Parade and public safety officials said the change stemmed from concerns about safety and the ability of large trucks carrying floats to navigate the rotary and the Main Street-Crowell Road intersection. While there have been security upgrades along the parade route in recent years — paradegoers may have noticed large DPW trucks blocking streets that lead into Main Street along the route, a measure to forestall a vehicle driving into the crowd — this change was meant to enhance those precautions and ease the post-parade traffic crunch. Closing gaps between parade participants, which have grown in recent years, was another justification for the change.

 We understand the concerns; we’ve seen parade officials pushing crowds back so that trucks can make the turns. But we agree with critics who said this is not the year to make such a change. July 4, 2026 falls on a Saturday, and it’s the 250th anniversary of the country. Chatham will likely see one of the largest parade crowds ever. Trying to relocate the thousands who regularly watch the parade along Main Street from the rotary west and along Crowell Road onto Old Harbor Road — which is mostly residential, as opposed to the largely commercial properties along the original route — will be nigh on impossible. Select board Chair Dean Nicastro likened it to stuffing a size 10 foot in a size eight shoe. We disagree. It’s more like trying to squeeze a size 10 foot in a size two shoe.

 Luckily, the board reversed its decision last week, and the route this July 4 will follow its traditional route. This may call for additional security measures, and the board should be ready to provide those resources, if they can be found. As public safety officials have said, July 4 is a busy holiday around the Cape and getting police officers and emergency personnel from other towns is problematic. We second the call made last week for more folks to volunteer as parade marshals or monitors, to help keep crowds safe and close gaps. As board members also said, it would behoove the parade committee to solicit input on future changes to the route.

The decision to prohibit parking along the north side of Main Street, traditionally allowed so locals could park pickups along the route from which family and friends could view the parade, is a smart move. We’ve spotted fewer and fewer pickups and more upscale vehicles in recent years, obviously meant to secure someone’s private viewing spot. Opening up those areas will help accommodate more people right at the heart of the parade, and may alleviate some of the problems of overcrowding at the rotary and Crowell Road intersection.

We hope to see Pogo Dave and his bizarre display in this year’s parade. We’ll smile and scratch our head, but will rest assured that he’s following the right route.