Colorado Springs Veterans Day Parade canceled
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - This year's Colorado Springs Veterans Day Parade has been canceled.
RELATED: Veterans Day Parade will happen in Colorado Springs after cancelation
The non-profit which has organized the parade since 2000 announced on its website that the parade is canceled citing a lack of participants.
THE PARADE HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO A LACK OF PARTICIPANTS !!!!!!!!
Quote from cosvetsparade.org
Update at 6:30 p.m.:
President of the Board for the Colorado Springs Veterans Day Parade, and veteran himself, Roger Ehrke tells KRDO 13 Investigates they didn't have enough participants for the parade this year. "The number of sponsors, has, gone down...the number of people on the parade route going from 45,000 a few years ago down to 9000," Ehrke said.
Last year 81 groups walked in the parade and in previous years Ehrke said they've had up to 100, "We've gone from over 100 down to less than half this year."
The cost of putting on the parade has risen drastically, Ehrke said it's twice as much since they started 25 years ago. The cost of putting on a parade is for paying Colorado Springs Police Officers overtime for providing security, putting up barriers around the route, the sound system, and much more. Ehrke told KRDO 13 Investigates they only have one paid employee in their non-profit group.
Ehrke said it would cost the non-profit approximately $1,000 for each float to walk down Tejon if they were to move forward with the parade. They don't charge groups to be in the parade.
Veterans told KRDO 13 Investigates they're outraged.
"That's a slap in the face for all the veterans in this community," Terry Mullins, a 30-year military veteran and post commander for VFW Post 101, told KRDO 13 Investigates.
"I don't care if we have 20 floats or 200 floats. The community will come out and pay honor and respect for those of us who have done our jobs," Mullins said.
Ehkre said despite the social media buzz and outrage, they won't be able to bring the parade back on this short notice because it takes a full year for the group to make sure the parade runs smoothly each November.
The non-profit has already started planning for next year's Veterans Day Parade. They invite anyone interested in helping out to reach out to them through their website.
