MADERA - Mark your calendars for this Saturday at 10:00AM the Old Timers’ Day Parade will mark the 88th year of its age-old tradition! Thanks to the support of the Madera Sunrise Rotary Club, this year’s parade will go on.
As noted in a previous article, for more than 10 years, the Madera Kiwanis Club has hosted and organized the parade. Unfortunately, the Madera Kiwanis Club closed their chapter in 2018 and was no longer available to coordinate the event. Thankfully, once the Madera Sunrise Rotary caught word of this, they stepped up to the plate to ensure that the parade would continue its legacy.
There is also a first and last time attraction complimenting this year’s parade, the Interact Club is offering a “Last Chance Tour” of the old jail annex in Courthouse Park. This will give the public a final opportunity to tour this historic building in its original condition. However, the old jail annex will serve its last operation function this Halloween as a haunted house hosted by the Interact Club. The County has plans to demolish this structure as a component of a park renovation coming 2020.
Historically, the parade has been operated without requests for funding. The Madera Downtown Association (which is funded by the business & property owners in Downtown Madera) has covered all operational costs and donates $2,000.00 to the non-profit organization who organizes the parade. With the increased costs to conduct the parade, the Old Timer’s Day Parade accounts for nearly half of the Madera Downtown Association’s annual budget. This will impact other various initiatives the Madera Downtown Association offers such as crow abatement, the Annual Christmas Parade, seasonal lighting, and several other projects.
In order to solidify this age-old tradition, the Madera Sunrise Rotary and the Madera Downtown Association are seeking first-time sponsors. Sponsorship packages will be available along with the Old Timers’ Day Parade application. All forms are available for pick up at the Madera Chamber of Commerce located at 120 North E. St., Madera, CA 93638. Or electronically, by visiting maderadowntown.com.
