“I was really amazed with the numbers of families and small kids,” said John O'Donnell, who organized the event with his wife, Carol. “Every year something catches my eye while I'm flying around doing task after task, and that's what I noticed this year. It was wonderful.”
More than 100 entries added to the parade spectacle, with many of them clad Irish-style. Among the participants were five bands, more than 20 floats and eight entries that used horses.
O'Donnell also was pleased at the apparent cooperation from parade-goers in regard to the adjacent neighborhoods. Before the parade, he had arranged with Colorado Springs Police to step up parking enforcement, based on complaints to City Council last fall from a few neighbors, stemming from previous major events in Old Colorado City.
He said his understanding is that police received three phone calls from citizens about blocked driveways and “the police responded to all of them with favorable results.”
Post-parade trash pickup was also expanded this year. “I put two extra people to walk the route and then come up the parallel side streets - Cucharras and Pikes Peak Avenue,” O'Donnell explained. “I asked them to pick up anything that looked like parade trash.”
Westside Pioneer article