Volunteer For The 2024 Christmas Parade

This year marks the 52nd Annual Christmas Parade for the City of Richardson. RWK will again be assisting in parade communications and we’re looking for volunteers. This year’s parade is Saturday morning Dec 7th at 9am and is on the East side this year (Plano Road – see map below). The parade will begin at 9am near Lowe’s, move north on Plano Rd past Huffines Park and finish on Apollo Rd at Fire Station #4.

Communicators will be operating from 0800 to 1200. We usually meet an hour or so beforehand (7am) at the Whataburger located at 505 S Plano Road (East side of Plano Road halfway between Beltline and Spring Valley) for breakfast and last minute instructions. The parade should be done by noon and stations at the start of the parade can be released before then.

We need volunteers for all positions: Start, Finish and points in between. Positions will be assigned in pairs). See the position descriptions below.

If you are interested, please sign up using the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dizE8vsdxz0qRvykvoNYr3OOOkf4-1rhNoUE1CBmnLo/

Basic radio requirement is an HT and batteries to last 5 hours. We also (heavily) recommend a headset and safety vest. “Earbud” headsets with the in-line microphone in the cable are not acceptable because of poor audio quality in an outside environment. We recommend a headset that sits on your head and has a microphone with a windscreen in front of your mouth (inexpensive headsets for various HTs are available at HRO and online). You should know how to program a simplex frequency into your HT without software. You should also wear a “high-viz” safety vest if you have one.

If you have any questions, email Don Klick.

This event is usually lots of fun, a great opportunity to test your HT skills, and a good way for RWK to repay the City of Richardson for all they do for us! Hope to see you there.

Assignments:

Shadow a Parade official: You go where they go. Pass on any relevant information you hear over the radio. Relay any questions they may have through the Net Control Station (NCS). Find out what type of information your assigned official is interested in.

Pullout: Relay to your counterparts at the Judging Area the parade lineup or any changes in the expected lineup.

Shadow to Judging and Parade MC: You go where they go but I would expect that they are mostly stationary. Relay to the officials the information you receive from your Pullout counterpart.

Staging, Disbanding, & Rovers: For the most part these are stationary positions. You are the eyes and ears of the Parade. If you see something say something. Relay all communications through the NCS. Breakdown of floats and equipment can occur. The NCS will check with you from time to time as the parade progresses. Rovers if you spot anything that is impeding the parade flow or any issues with spectators notify NCS.

A map of this year’s parade route is as follows:

More info: https://www.cor.net/departments/parks-recreation/community-events/christmas-parade/