Organizers Cancel 2021 Evansville Four Freedoms Veterans Parade
Remember over the summer when people starting getting vaccinated and COVID numbers went down? Things started to feel like they were getting back to normal. Events that had been canceled in 2020 announced they were coming back. We could freely get back together with family and friends, and you could walk into any building and not have to turn around and walk back to your car because you forgot your mask. Ahhhh, those were the days. I do believe those days will return at some point, but we're not quite there yet. The emergence of the Delta variant has caused case numbers to rise again across the country, including right here in the Tri-State where every county in our listening area is considered "High Transmission" on the CDC's COVID Data Tracker map.
While we've seen some events resume such as concerts along with both the upcoming West Side Nut Club Fall Festival and 2021-22 Evansville Thunderbolts hockey season at the Ford Center, not everyone feels comfortable gathering people together for a celebration. That includes the organizers of the annual Four Freedoms Veterans Parade who have decided not to hold the event this year.
In a press release, organizers said they, "do not feel that we can ensure the safety of our participants as well as the spectators of the parade." They also noted the decision to cancel was not an easy one to make, but that they felt they had a "moral obligation to the community to not indulge in activities that would put a large number of people at high risk to catch COVID-19."
They went on to say they do plan on bringing the parade back next year on November 12th, 2022. Let's cross our fingers, toes, and whatever other body parts we can to hope that will be the case.
[Source: Four Freedoms Veterans Parade Press Release]
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