HAMLET — The day of the county’s only Christmas parade could be moved from the week to the weekend due to public opinion.
On Monday, City Manager Johnathan Blanton posted a Facebook poll asking if the city should keep the annual parade — which has been city-run since 2017 — on Thursday or move it to the weekend.
“We got a lot of feedback this year,” he said. “A lot of people asked a legitimate question.”
That question: Why have a parade in the middle of the afternoon during the week when people are still at work?
Blanton said he’s been surprised at the “overwhelming response,” which garnered 943 votes in the first six hours. The poll was also shared 15 times.
By 5 p.m., only 14% of respondents opted to keep the parade as is — the other 93% wanted to move it to the weekend.
Most of the comments leaned moving it to Saturday, with some questioning why it was moved to Thursday in the first place. One person even suggested having it at night.
Another commenter reminded those reading that Rockingham’s Christmas on the Square is the first Saturday in December.
While many of the people replying to the poll don’t live in Hamlet, Blanton said everyone in Richmond County has a legitimate interest since the city hosts the county’s only Christmas parade.
He added that it’s also a regional affair, with viewers and entries from surrounding areas, including Scotland County and Marlboro County, South Carolina.
The poll was set up for seven days.
Whenever the final decision is made, Blanton said it likely won’t be by a formal council vote, but will be discussed.
Blanton said this was his first time using social media to gauge public opinion and said it may be used in the future for other issues.
