Whitemarsh Township announced on May 9th that it would no longer hold its annual 4th of July parade, along Germtown Pike in Lafayette Hill, citing safety concerns. In the announcement, Jace Toll, chair of the Whitemarsh Township Board of Supervisors, stated that township departments had reviewed the parade’s safety and concluded it posed an unnecessary risk to the community. Mentioned in her statement were “recent events” and issues such as vehicle control.

While the statement did not cite any specific “recent events,” there has been an ongoing series of incidents involving vehicles being purposely driven into crowds at events. The most recent prominent example was on Bourbon Street in New Orleans on January 1st.

You can read the full statement below:

“As members of the Board of Supervisors, we sometimes have to make decisions when we wish there were better choices. This next decision falls into that category.

We are cancelling our annual 4th of July parade. We came to this point after hearing from Township staff, our Police Department and our Emergency Management Office. In light of recent events, they had conducted a thorough review of safety at the parade, including vehicle control, and concluded that holding the event presented an unnecessary risk to the community. We thank them for their time and expertise.

Safety is, and always will be, our top priority. That is not a cliché here in Whitemarsh. We say it and we mean it.

Trust me when I tell you that we appreciate the tradition of the parade. As I said, we wish there was a better choice. In this case, we don’t believe there is. We hope parade fans will understand why we made this decision and find other ways to celebrate with family and friends on July 4th.”

Photo: Amy M. Schwab Photography