Every Monday, Matthew Eisley faces off against a guest columnist on a topical issue. This week he debates John Odom, executive director of the Greater Raleigh Merchants Association, on the timing of Raleigh's Christmas Parade. First up, Eisley.
Eisley: First Thanksgiving, then Christmas
I love a free, public party, but to me it's nutty as a fruitcake that Raleigh's Christmas Parade occurs before Thanksgiving.
We haven't pretended that we're Plymouth Colony pilgrims yet, and Santa Claus has already come and gone.
I like patron saints, Dutch gift-givers and jolly old elves as much as the next softy.
But, please, first things first. Prematurely putting on a Christmas parade before Thanksgiving diminishes the importance of Thanksgiving itself.
And let's not forget that before Thanksgiving came to represent gluttony, a day off work and nonstop football, it celebrated the blessings of some of our nation's first colonists.
I don't think it's asking too much to let us honor our national history before moving on to our most overcommercialized holiday.
Let's be honest about it. As the ever-game and cheerful John Odom acknowledges here, the Greater Raleigh Merchants Association's Christmas annual parade isn't really about Christ or holiness or even giving gifts.
Instead, the parade is about buying gifts - or, more accurately, selling gifts.
Don't get me wrong. I'm a liberty-loving, small-business, free-market capitalist. (Can I sell you a newspaper subscription?)
But something's amiss when a public event intended to entice endorphin-addled people to part faster with their hard-earned dough trumps our national holiday.
It puts jack ahead of joy, greed over creed.
Just because antsy retail stores disregard the calendar doesn't mean Raleigh should.
I say, let's celebrate each major holiday fully before moving on to the next. Santa can wait.
Matthew Eisley is editor of The N&O's North Raleigh News and Midtown Raleigh News.
Odom: Moving it back would be a big mistake
This was our 65th year of the Raleigh Christmas Parade. It was put together by local businesses. It's really a present for the community.
Although people talk about the parade being before Thanksgiving, and we get some complaints, there aren't many.
The main reason the parade was originally put together is to kick off holiday shopping in the local area.
The Friday after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year. The way local businesses look at it, the parade is already behind.
We have debated it every year, talking about whether we should do it on one day or another, or push it back to nighttime. We keep coming back to the Saturday morning before Thanksgiving as the logical time.
The parade is one of the biggest events in Raleigh. It's a tradition. Why change it?
This year's parade was about "shop local." We want people to go and buy local, because 80 percent of the money stays here.
The local owners will then spend it at their office supply store, their church, their high school, their restaurant.
The parade has never been rained out. And the only time it was postponed was after President John F. Kennedy's assassination.
We think moving it back would be a big mistake. We don't think there's any disadvantage in having it before Thanksgiving.
It's a huge upside for the business community and for the public as well. Christmas comes quickly after Thanksgiving. There are lots of other events. This helps spread it out.
And this one is free and family-oriented.
John Odom is executive director of the Greater Raleigh Merchants Association
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