Harry Miller, otherwise known as Santa Claus, spoke at the Yelm City Council meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 13, to discuss the cancellation of the Christmas Parade this year. The parade has previously coincided with the annual Christmas in the Park event.
Miller, who has served as a Bald Hills fire commissioner since 2003, said he takes great pride in the town of Yelm, which is something he’d like to see from others.
“I’m not a resident, but I have an invested interest in Yelm,” Miller said. “Recently, I’ve added Santa to my resume. I like to think I’m a little different because I don’t follow the dollar or inside venues, I go where kids are. Through the COVID lockdown, I did what I could to give families the Santa experience, and it pained me greatly to have two Christmas parades canceled. It’s not about Santa, it’s about our community.”
With the parade canceled for the second year in a row, Miller said he still provided the Christmas experience to children in Yelm Community Schools through his “Santa by the Road” events, where he drove by all nine schools in the city.
“My overall concern is that by canceling two years in a row, we’ve created some inertia and atrophy in those who would participate in the parade,” Miller told the council. “The commitment from this body should be to celebrate the community first and recruit as needed. The recruitment and communication with the community needs help.”
Miller added the neighboring towns of Roy and Rainier have Christmas parades and while Yelm does a great job on other things like the water tower lighting and the splash pad, he feels the Christmas Parade should remain a tradition as Yelm grows.
“The Tornados football team gave us cover for the canceled parade,” Miller said. “Also the Twisters and cheer are representing us very well this season. This body needs to excel at celebrating the best things in our community, starting with our families and their children. Yelm is a town of givers. We need to not be stingy with our praise and celebration. We can stop traffic for five or 50, but it’s time for re-engagement and a new vision.”
Mayor Joe DePinto responded to Miller’s statements and said events like the Christmas Parade are hosted between the city, the Yelm Chamber of Commerce and Yelm Community Schools.
“The city’s aspect is mainly with the policing and shutting down roadways,” DePinto said. “It takes a lot on our end. We contract with outside agencies as well because we don’t have enough police officers to close all the roads for parades.”
DePinto acknowledged the frustrations Miller voiced and assured him things would be different next year.
“I was a little disappointed the parade was canceled this year and we are not going to be canceling it next year,” DePinto said. “We will have one. We will ensure there will be a Christmas parade next year, for sure.”
DePinto said this year’s parade would have featured a small number of entrants if it had not been canceled.
Following DePinto’s remarks, Councilmember Brian Hess weighed in on the financial aspects of hosting a parade in Yelm.
“I think we need to be a little honest with what the costs are,” Hess said. “I had an extensive conversation with (city) administrator (Todd) Stancil, and the cost to hold a parade — just personnel alone — is looking at eight to $10,000.”
In addition to the extra staffing brought on during the events, Hess said the city has to provide the state with advance notice of the parade, since it would impact state Routes 510 and 507.
“We need to be doing more to celebrate things,” Hess said. “My question is, for five people, one person, walking through town for a parade, is it worth it for our taxpayers of the City of Yelm? Is it worth eight to $10,000 for very little participation?”
Hess noted the decision to not hold the parade wasn’t solely in the hands of the city.
“To put the blame on us, and I’m not trying to say we won’t take the blame for it, but to put the blame squarely on us and say we’re the ones shutting down the fun of Yelm, I think that’s incorrect,” Hess said. “We want to try to improve. This year we’ve been trying to improve and make things better for this community. The pushback we get when we start talking about some of this stuff, we get so much push back. I understand Yelm is a small town. Yelm has grown quite a bit, so Santa, please don’t put the blame on us for shutting down the fun of Christmas. The city council had no say in it at all.”
Councilmember Holly Smith thanked Miller for bringing attention to the topic and reiterated the city council did not play a part in the cancellation.
Councilmember Joshua Crossman said he’s lived in Yelm for over 40 years, and like many, enjoyed the tradition of the Christmas in the Park parade in the past. But with Yelm continuing to rapidly grow, Crossman said it wouldn’t be realistic to have a parade if the turnout of participants is small.
“We have outgrown Rainier, Roy, Eatonville by a lot, by thousands,” Crossman said. “They can do things we can’t do anymore because of the size we are and the traffic we have to produce. People have to realize that and have a little grace. It’s a struggle just to get Prairie Days and I’m a strong proponent of the Prairie Days Parade.”
Councilmember Joseph Richardson, who is also the president of the Yelm Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber is currently going through a transition period.
“Whenever you have a change of leadership, things get reconfigured,” Richardson said. “We take it to heart and I thank you for bringing this up. You see the same people show up at every event. It’s the same group of people and what we do need is more involvement.”
