Holiday Parade

A band booster parent said the city had ample time to address the parade's sustainability and urged the city to form a staff team to fundraise and plan with community partners.

A band booster parent urged councilmembers to actually attend marching band events, inviting them to the November 19 friends and family night at Mission Hills High.

A Mission Hills color guard captain and band leader asked the council to at least help fundraise for the parade in future years, saying it unites the community.

A Mission Hills drum major argued the cancellation is a 'care issue' not a money issue, and said crowding city events into one weekend hurt parade attendance.

Mission Hills High band boosters president urged the council to save the December parade, sharing student quotes about how the 28-year tradition builds community and asking the city to back a new organizer financially and with manpower.

The Mission Hills band president said the parade is the band's biggest public showcase and that canceling it robs new members and seniors of a treasured experience.

A drum major representing 200 band students recalled attending the parade as a young kid near Home Depot and asked the council to find a way to make the iconic event happen again.

A Cal State San Marcos professor and band mom argued the parade builds the community connection a 'blue zone' study aims for, saying she'd rather see taxpayer money go to the parade than other initiatives.

A senior band mom made an emotional plea, quoting her daughter that the parade 'is about our community,' and challenged the council to keep the tradition alive for future musicians.

Universidad Popular's co-director offered to partner on the parade but said her shoestring-budget organization can't be the main organizer.

Framed the parade as the only major community event in her district and urged the city to lead a partnership effort, treating it as an economic development opportunity.

The Historical Society's Tanis Brown traced San Marcos's long parade history back to the 1950s and stressed the memories made by the kids who march in it.