For the past four years the Syracuse-Wawasee Chamber of Commerce has organized a Celebrate Syracuse Parade. The parade normally was held during the Fourth of July holiday weekend and traveled down SR 13. This year that parade will not be happening.

Tammy Cotton, chamber executive director, said that two main reasons contributed toward not having the parade this year. The first reason is that this year the Forth of July falls on a Saturday. Since the usual parade day is a holiday the chamber members were worried that attendance in the parade would be low. Independence Day is typically a busy holiday in the lakes area and Syracuse residents will be celebrating the day in their own ways.

The second reason behind the absence of the parade is because the Syracuse-Wawasee Chamber of Commerce is busy planning a different parade. The chamber is planning a Bicentennial Parade to take place in 2016 to celebrate Indiana’s 200 years of history. The parade is scheduled to happen in Syracuse sometime in September 2016. The Syracuse-Wawasee Chamber of Commerce is still in the planning stages for this parade. Assistant Director Kristi Martin is in charge of the planning for the future parade.

It’s not certain whether the parade will return in future years or not.