All hail Christopher Columbus and his priceless parades
On Friday, October 5th, a parade will line up in the bus circle at about 3:30 in front of Town of Webb.
This parade, consisting of 6 floats, is a highlight of a student’s career in Old Forge.
Each float is a masterpiece of cardboard, plywood, and spraypaint.
Each is the pride and joy of one of the 7th through 12th grade classes. And each will end up part of a giant bonfire later in the evening, kicking off the elaborate Columbus Day weekend festivities.
Why waste the materials, money, time, and effort creating something that is only to last an hour or two, at most?
It was a question playfully posed to me by a teacher at the high school last week, and one that I found myself slightly angered at.Surely, it does not make fiscal sense. But neither do budget expenses such as publicly financed Fireworks, Christmas Trees, Ski Mountains, and other things meant to be “fun,” and not practical.
Why do we “waste” all that money?
It is our culture.
And our culture is something the importance of which can not be overstated, and the value of which can not be overestimated.
It gives us an identity. We are Old Forge.
Enough debate is given to government finance and policy that it almost seems that is what we are. We obsess about budgets, stimulus packages, and tax allocations.
We talk about these so much, in fact, that sometimes traditional expenses get caught up in this mindset.
“Cut! Reduce! Combine!” our fiscal-conservative lobe cries. But we must address these thought processes with care.
Money does not define our lives or our towns. Columbus Day Parades do. Christmas Trees do. Fireworks do. Concerts do.
Sometimes the most politically beneficial thing for our town is an enhanced identity. And sometimes an enhanced identity costs money.
Moderately, we have to accept— and enjoy—these expenses.
