Last weeks Christmas present ..

Busy with the holiday, I didn’t get to note last week about this Christmas Present that the Lowell Sun political column left to Bob Cox:

FOR DRACUT Selectman Robert Cox: a parade for the Dracut High School football team complete with Boston Duck Boats on Beaver Brook and a wide open Broadway Road with neon signs pointing to Coyle’s Tavern.

This was really an ugly happening, that sort of upset people all over.

During the Selectmen’s meeting last month (just days after the High School Superbowl win), Cox explained that a number of people were working to have a parade on the following weekend to celebrate the high school sports team successes.

While the enthusiasm around town was high, they were trying to put together a quick celebration.

The event fell apart, and in terms a little less than “cheerful,” Cox told me that someone at the Schools was against the event, and threw a wrench into the gears to kill it. Ok, he used much more colorful and specific terms, but you get the point.

When I spoke with people from the School Side.. they had circled the wagons and gave out reasons such as “the band wasn’t ready”, “midterms”, and “it was too short a notice.”

Too short a notice? Boston shut down the next day after the Superbowl and the World Series wins.

Cox wasn’t looking to stop all commerce for a day.. just get people together for a couple hours while the enthusiasm was high. The band didn’t need to perform, but would have been in the parade as additional students to celebrate.

The schools later had their athletic awards night, and will have some sort of ceremony in a few months for the Football Team as well.. but I don’t think the enthusiasm would ever be the same as it would have been that week.

(Would you go down to Boston this weekend for a celebration of last year’s Superbowl if the Pats had won?)

All in all.. an opportunity was lost for the people of the town, beyond just the parents and elected officials, to congratulate all these kids for such a great season.