Placerville Christmas parade will have new candy distribution
PLACERVILLE — Organizers of the Hangtown Christmas Parade in Placerville are changing how candy is distributed this year, citing safety as one of the reasons.
"I've never noticed a real problem, per se, except maybe some of the kids didn't get the candy that they wanted," Tom Kenny, Placerville resident, said.
Placerville Christmas parade organizers recently announced on a post on Facebook that "Candy - or anything else - will no longer be passed out by applicants during the Christmas Parade. Instead, Santa's helpers will be passing out candy bags as they walk with Santa."
"That's fine and that makes sense because they might have a better control of how the candy is distributed that way," Kenny said.
Organizers also said in the Facebook post, in part, "We have tried everything to get folks to not throw candy, but nothing works... and due to this we had some pretty close calls with kids and vehicles that were not paying attention. So we are trying something new."
They said throwing candy has not been allowed since at least 2017, and participants agree to only pass it out when they fill out an application.
However, they have still seen issues.
"It seems to me it's a fun activity as long as you can ensure a certain amount of safety," Darin Coelho, co-owner of The Bookery on Main Street, said.
Coelho said he has never had issues with his kids personally during the parade, but could see where there might be safety concern.
"I have never seen any issues like that and I have a 12-year-old and a 10-year-old and I think they've been to the parade every single year of their life," Coelho said.
The City of Placerville also released a statement that said, in part:
"It is not safe to throw candy from a moving apparatus in large crowds. Certain non-compliant individuals choose not to follow the safety rules increasing liability exposure. Event coordinators will continue to enforce this protocol, and non-compliant individuals will not be permitted to participate next year."
The parade is December 8. If you are interested in volunteering to be one on Santa's Helpers or donate candy, you can contact Sue Taylor at 530-391-2190.