Planning the WYO Parade

Parades don’t just happen. People don’t just decide to get in line and advance down main street, waving at the crowds along the route.

The WYO Rodeo Parade is an annual parade, and usually averages around 100 entries. That takes planning. Lots of planning. Almost a year of planning.

Brandy Campbell, Sheridan WYO Rodeo Board Secretary and Parade Chairman, talked about what it takes to put on the popular event.

Like most everything these days, the Parade Committee uses technology. They have only been taking on-line entries for the past two years, and they are still working on streamlining that process.

The deadline is the last Friday in June.

She added that people often wait until the last minute to make their entries. “I think the last few days before my deadline I maybe received 20 or 25 entries out of a 100-entry parade, which is fine.”

On parade day there is still work to be done. Volunteers are important to the parade. She wanted to thank the people who set up the barricades and the parade line-up volunteers. Century 21 is their parade sponsor, and they help out a lot. They help with parade numbers, and people go there to pick up their numbers. “Those people have it dialed in,” she said.

She said everyone has to be patient on parade day, and she said they want to make sure everyone stays safe. “It’s a little bit crazy but it’s once a year, and we appreciate all the people who come down to watch the parade.”