Last Days of the Mummers Parade?

    For over one hundred years, Philadelphia has been home to the oldest folk parade in the country.  With over 15,000 performers involved, the Philadelphia New Years Day Mummer’s Parade is a huge part of the heritage in this city.  Since 1901, the parade has occurred yearly.  If it rains, the parade has simply been postponed.  This will be the 109th year for the parade. 

    Recently, however, the new mayor of Philadelphia, Mayor Nutter, has been trying to eliminate the parade.  According to Pennsylvania Local News, Nutter has proposed the closing of seven firehouses to cut costs.  He also withdrew $355,000 from the yearly contribution to the Mummer Association.

    Surprisingly, the mayor ended up giving $300,000 back to the Mummers Association.  This action was due to the strong disagreement with the decision by a majority of the city.  Anna Angelo, who has attended the parade every year since the year she was born in 1923, thinks Nutter should be ashamed of himself.  “Who does he think he is?  How does he know what is best for the city?” says Angelo.  “In times like these when the economy is down and unemployment rates are high people need something fun to take their mind off of such depressing things.  We, the citizens of the Philadelphia, need this parade.”

    Obviously, there are people who disagree.  Chris Baldwin is an ex-Mummer.  He is 23 years old and hasn’t participated in the parade in over five years.  “The parade is fun, but it has become more of a job than what it used to be,” says Baldwin.  “Ten years ago tens of thousands of dollars weren’t spent on floats and costumes.  It was a fun day.  Now, all anyone wants to do is win.  The aspect of fun is long gone for mummers.” 

After asking several other preset day mummers how they felt about the parade and Mayor Nutter’s thoughts on the parade, remarks like, “Long Live the Mummers!” and “January first we march no matter what!” were proclaimed.

    It seems as though Mayor Nutter is not worried about what the public thinks of his decisions.  Perhaps the mayor who gets rid of this tradition will be the mayor to sign his ticket to go straight out of office.  This mayor might just be Mayor Nutter.