Kaysville panel may target parade safety

Pair of 10-year-olds were hurt in Fourth of July procession

KAYSVILLE — Will the city's popular water finale to the Fourth of July parade dry up and vanish?

The Kaysville-Fruit Heights Civic Committee will review the annual parade during its regular meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 23 E. Center.

One issue that will most certainly come up is parade safety. Two 10-year-old boys were injured in separate incidents involving vehicles during Friday's Fourth of July parade.

A vehicle ran over one boy's foot during the water portion of the parade. The other boy was walking alongside a trailer being towed. The wheel of the trailer caught the boy's foot and pulled him under, running over him. Both are expected to fully recover.

Kaysville Mayor Neka Roundy stressed that Wednesday's meeting is a routine one, held every year.

"It's the same thing we do every single year," she said. "It's a review."

She said the 10-member committee decides what it wants to discuss. The meeting is not a public hearing and will not solicit public comment.

Roundy also said she's always looking for constructive suggestions from the public on how to improve the parade, though.

"It's all run by volunteers," she said of the parade.

She said the water portion at the end of the parade started eight years ago.

"It has grown," she said.

Those in the parade have a water fight with any spectators along the street who stay around for it.

Besides the water fight, the Kaysville parade also allows participants to throw candy out to the spectators.

Roundy said in recent years candy walkers — people walking alongside the parade entries — have been required to ensure the candy gets off the street. That has helped make that portion of the parade safer, she said.

Undoubtedly, it's the combination of the two interactive features — candy throwing and the water parade — that make the Kaysville parade so popular and well-attended. In fact, the parade may well draw as many people, or even more, than neighboring Layton's parade — even though Layton is a much larger city.

"Kaysville is a tight community," Roundy said, noting that many former city residents come back each year for the parade.

Also likely to be reviewed at the committee meeting are changes made to this year's parade. Roundy said signs were posted along the parade route this year asking residents not to reserve a spot until July 3.

In addition, the parade route was expanded by two blocks farther east along 100 North.

Roundy said anyone with suggestions about parade improvements can e-mail them to her at mayor.roundy@kaysvillecity.com.

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E-mail: lynn@desnews.com

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