Decision on 87th Alsatia Mummers Parade to be made Saturday morning

Alsatia Club representatives and Hagerstown officials are scheduled to meet Saturday morning to decide whether the Mummers Parade will be held in the evening despite a forecasted snowstorm.

Early Friday, Alsatia Club Parade Chairman James G. McCleaf II said the parade would proceed, even if the weather was bad.

But, as the forecast grew worse, parade organizers were forced to consider the possibility of postponing or canceling the parade, which runs through Hagerstown and draws thousands of spectators.

McCleaf said the meeting will be held at 9 a.m.

As of Friday evening, the National Weather Service was predicting 4 to 8 inches of snow accumulation for Hagerstown on Saturday. McCleaf said he heard a forecast that calls for even more snow than that.

If the weather is extreme, it would be "highly unlikely" the parade will go on, risking the safety of parade participants and spectators, he said.

This would be the 87th Alsatia Mummers Parade.

McCleaf said he knows of only four times — during World War II — that the parade was canceled.

The club has a permit to use Md. 65, a state road, but the city maintains that section of the road and would decide whether it was safe to use, said David Buck, a Maryland State Highway Administration spokesman.

The parade runs from the northernmost end of Potomac Street and ends near Bester Elementary School. It's scheduled to start at 6 p.m.