Cloquet's holiday parade is canceled

The Santa's Home for the Holidays parade will not be happening this year.

Cloquet city councilors said "no" in an informal vote Tuesday after discussing the pros and cons of holding the annual holiday parade during a pandemic.

Positives included the fact that the parade and fireworks are both outside in the cold - transmission is less likely outdoors and people would probably be masked up to stay warm anyway - and the desire to have some kind of community celebration.

Negatives also centered around the coronavirus: what if people got sick from gathering, how would anyone enforce social distancing and mask wearing, would anyone even want to participate in the parade?

"Why would we even have it?" Ward 1 councilor Bun Carlson asked. "I don't think we should go ahead with it. We're still in the middle of the Covid thing and just asking ourselves for more stuff."

In the end, the rest of the council agreed that it would be better to not hold the parade or the fireworks, especially as Covid rates are growing in Carlton County right now.

"It's been a lost year," Ward 4 councilor Kerry Kolodge said. "This might just be another casualty."

The city will still have its holiday lighting displays up at the various parks and streets downtown, Peterson pointed out. Regarding other Home for the Holidays events usually hosted by area businesses, Peterson said that was not the city's call.

"I think those events would have to look different," he said, referring to state guidelines to limit the spread of Covid-19. At-large councilor Lara Wilkinson, who works for MCCU, said she didn't think the credit union would want to hold its indoor event "as usual" at the Cloquet branch. She said Duluth is hoping to hold its annual Christmas City of the North parade, but with no audience.

Ward 2 Councilor Sheila Lamb said she had some ideas for ways to celebrate the holidays without risking people's health that she wanted to discuss with Peterson before the next meeting.