Parade Requests 'Overwhelm' Peabody Police, Fire Departments

PEABODY, MA —What started out as a way to help kids celebrate birthdays under the statewide stay-at-home advisory has turned into a major part of the operations for the Peabody police and fire departments.

"The Peabody Police and Fire Departments have been overwhelmed with requests for celebratory parades. We have volunteered for well over 150 parades thus far and have coordinated many others that we were unable to participate in," the Peabody Police Department said in a Facebook post Monday. "We fully understand the joy that these events bring to the community and we thoroughly enjoy participating in them ourselves."

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To keep up with the demand, the departments said they would focus on parade requests for kids in preschool through middle school. The parades typically involve vehicles from the departments driving by the birthday child's home. Parents wishing to request a parade can contact Sgt. Harkins at jharkins@peabodypolice.org to schedule all parades.

"Our hope in doing this is that we will be able to continue with these parades into the future without any issues to the public," the police message said.

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Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).