Furor over Memorial Day parade Woodmere merchants upset over fire dept.'s plan to take control

      The merchants, who have worked hard to plan and been the main sponsor of the parade for the past 12 years, were told by Woodmere Fire Chief Richard Winters that they no longer will be in charge of the event. The fire department will take over, making the arrangements, sending out invitations and deciding who stands where in the parade marching lineup.
      For Merchants Association president Sy Glass, who has taken great pride in planning the parade for six months each year, the move came as a great shock. Glass said he received a call from Winters last month requesting that they sit down and discuss the parade. He told me, ÔFrom now on, we're going to handle it,' Glass said. I think it's terrible. He's under the wrong conception. He thinks we didn't do anything.
      Glass explained that planning and organizing the Memorial Day parade takes several months and that he usually begins in December, sending out invitations to war veterans groups, local schools, and organizations such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. We sent out mailings, we pay for advertising, said Glass, adding that it costs the merchants group thousands of dollars, which they pay for out of their own pockets, though they do receive contributions to offset the costs.
      Glass said he was not given any specific reason why the fire department wants to take control of the parade, but said he got the impression that the department thinks it can do a better job. He also said that Chief Winters didn't go about it the right way, and should have held a meeting with members of the Memorial Day Parade Committee to solicit their thoughts before making a move.
      Chief Winters did not return phone calls for comment.
      Glass said the parade honors veterans for the sacrifices they have made for the country, and that's the way it should remain. The Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion, they should be out front marching in the parade, he said.
      The Merchants Association is prepared to draft a letter to the fire department listing its objections to the move and asking what the group did wrong.
      There was no parade for a long time before I came along, Glass said. We organized it with storekeepers. We invited all the agencies. Now [the fire department] wants to do all the inviting. Now we're waiting to hear whether we'll get invited. As far as I'm concerned, [Winters] is out of line.
      Ernest Weinrib, owner of Ernest Realty in Woodmere, a charter member of the Merchants Association and a World War II veteran, said he was particularly steamed when he learned about the fire department's plans from Glass. The fire department's actions are absolutely undemocratic and dictatorial and we're not going to stand for it, Weinrib said. I'm very upset about this. We organized it all these years. They have no legal right, no moral right, to do this. This is an extremely arbitrary thing to do.
      We are not going to let this happen, Weinrib added. It's going to get all the veterans up in arms.
      Merik Aaron, a vice president of the association who was recently named its Man of the Year for 2002, said he still wants to learn the full details of the move. Sy called me about it and he was very upset, Aaron said. We never had any problems with [organizing] the parade. No one said to me that the parade needs to be changed and it needs new leadership. I don't know why the Merchants Association can't continue to do it.
      Barbara Zacharia, an association vice president, said, The Memorial Day parade is a community affair, and the merchants have always gotten the entire community of the Five Towns involved, and that's what we will continue to do. It's not good for the town to have this kind of divisiveness.