Winter Garden city manager says group crashed Christmas parade
WINTER GARDEN, Fla. - Winter Garden’s city manager says an unauthorized group snuck into its Christmas parade this year.
“This was not sanctioned, condoned or allowed by the city,” Winter Garden City Manager Mike Bollhoeffer said. “They snuck in, and shame on me, we let them get through, but it won’t happen again.”
The city’s manager tells us that a youth dance group called UDD snuck into the parade without properly registering and played inappropriate music that included profanity along the route.
FOX 35 got a copy of a cellphone video of the parade from a viewer.
The video appears to show a car playing the music with several adults and children following behind it.
“I’m very disappointed,” Bollhoeffer said. “I think it’s probably one of the lowest things I’ve see someone do, to crash a Christmas parade. Go into someone’s parade playing music with all sorts of profanities.”
The city said it got complaints from its citizens about the group and its music.
“We have our security designated looking for people that are going to cause problems or danger and such,” Bollhoeffer said. “I mean, no one is looking for a group of young elementary kids in a dance group.”
The city’s manager said there will be changes to the parades in the future to make sure groups cannot sneak into the route.
“What makes it worse is that this is a group that is supposed to be helping children,” Bollhoeffer said. “Why would they be using that kind of music with children? That doesn’t make sense.”
FOX 35 News spoke with a woman who said she is affiliated with the dance group by phone. We asked her about whether the group registered for the parade and the music. She declined to speak with us on camera and told us the music was played by mistake.