Weather lightens parade crowd

Decatur Daily Democrat:

It wasn't the largest crowd for a Callithumpian Parade, but given the weather, it was a good one.

Estimates of Monday night's turnout for the annual parade were in the 5,000 range, not bad at all considering the weather predictions that included big gusts of wind. The temperature stood at 44 degrees when the parade kicked off around 7 p.m., with wind-chill readings in the mid-30s.

"I'd say around 5,000," Police Chief Ken Ketzler said this morning. "The crowd was lighter than usual — we've had 8,000 or 9,000 in the past — but not bad. It was really windy out there."

As for crowd control and the handling of traffic afterward, Ketzler said "it went real well."