I was recently informed that the Fourth of July comittee must pay many groups for participating in the Fourth of July Parade. I find this to be very embarassing to the community. Where is your Hometown Pride that you need to get paid to be involved in such a prestigious event? The biggest one that shocked me was that the Brentwood High School Band expects to get paid to participate. How in the world can a school organization charge the borough for anything? With all that this borough does (and pays) for the school, it is completely unfathomable that they would even consider accepting money for this showcase of their talents.
I say if you want paid to be in the parade, stay home! That leaves more money for the comittee to make the parade even better. Not that the fireworks weren't incredible last year, but imagine what they could be like if they had the extra money to spend. Maybe spend the extra money on more entertainment for the little kids, or water stations along the route for the people who are VOLUNTERRING to participate. I can think of many ways to spend that money, and none of it would involve paying anybody to participate. I would love to hear what everybody else thinks about this. Am I overreacting, or is everybody else as appalled at this as I am?