Main organizer cancels Battlefield Christmas Parade over dispute

BATTLEFIELD, Mo. — As of now, the 4th Annual Battlefield Christmas Parade will not happen.

Deziree Marsh has been the primary organizer for the past several years.

"Last year we got rained out. But two years prior to that, I went before the mayor and the Board of Aldermen and asked if I could host Battlefield's First Christmas Parade. I had about five weeks to plan it. They said I wouldn't be able to do it, but we did it and it was awesome," Marsh said. "It's a small town vibe, kind of parade just for anybody who wants to come."

Marsh says typically they would plan the parade on the same night as the Mayor's Tree Lighting, but that date was also the same day as parades in larger towns.

"There's a lot of other Christmas parades on that day, and because we're such a small town, I thought it would be super cool to have the parade on the last Saturday before Christmas," Marsh said.

With at least 17 floats signed up and ready to go, everything seemed to be going according to plan.

"On December 3rd, I was asked to meet with the city administrator and that was him, the mayor, the city clerk and the chief of police. I was given a document that just basically had the conditions for the road closure. I was informed that I would need to pay for the additional police coverage and it would be my responsibility for the barricades. So I was to pay for those and install those and provide two additional volunteers to help with the road closure," Marsh said.

Nearly two weeks later, on December 16, that's when she says she was thrown off after reaching out for more information regarding the barricades.

"I received an email from [the city administrator] stating we were going to have to do things differently and that I was going to be required to complete a permit," Marsh said. "He just said that was the route they were going to go. I said, Is this going to interfere with the parade? He said it shouldn't. I asked if that's going to cover the police coverage because the permit was $100. I said, Is that going to cover the police coverage? He said it should, but it wouldn't cover the barricades. I'd still be responsible for that."

December 17, the Battlefield Board of Alderman was expected to vote on said permit.

"I believe the board's understanding, that if this permit was approved that night, that meant that I would need to complete that permit and in order to have the parade. Now, I had less than 24 hours with the general provisions of that document. So I took a screenshot, sent it to my attorney and said, Hey, what do you think?" Marsh said.

Marsh's attorney advised her to not sign/finish filling out the permit.

"It seemed like I was taking on a whole lot of responsibility, that it just didn't seem normal," Marsh said.

The vote went 4-2 against Marsh.

December 18, Battlefield's City Administrator reached out to Marsh again, trying to find some way to make it work.

"[The email said] you can have your attorney draft up a document and with what you're like basically saying that City of Battlefield would not be liable for anything, and if their council, meaning the city council approved it, then we would be able to go forward. That was a shocker to me because I didn't have any idea that we weren't able to go forward."

Marsh says given the time, it's not likely she'd be able to meet all of the requirements, so she made the tough decision to cancel the parade.

"I know City Hall is closed tomorrow for some sort of computer download or something. My brain just said there's no way that's possible, number one. Number two, why all of a sudden is this happening? It kind of felt like I was being harassed. I really didn't fully understand all of it," Marsh said. "To be honest, I cried and thought about all the little all the gifts that I had wrapped for the children because I counted them and we had almost 100 gifts that we were going to drive around and pass out."

We reached out to the City of Battlefield and spoke to the city administrator who gave us this statement.

"The City engaged in a verbal agreement with Mrs. Marsh on December 3 to coordinate traffic control and law enforcement involvement for the Christmas parade. After consulting with the City’s insurance broker, it was recommended that a formal agreement include an indemnification/hold harmless clause to protect the City.

On Monday, December 16, Mrs. Marsh emailed to confirm she had secured barricades for the event. In response, she was notified of the need to amend the agreement to align with a new road closure permit. Mrs. Marsh had previously signed a similar agreement for a block party request, which served as a reference for this process.

On Tuesday, the Board of Aldermen discussed the updated permit. However, they voted not to approve it. While no motion was made to cancel the parade, the City was left without a formal agreement to mitigate liability. As a result, we had no choice but to withdraw our services from the event.

At no point did communications from City Hall instruct Mrs. Marsh to cancel her event. The City’s inability to provide services was strictly due to unresolved liability concerns. I have repeatedly offered to collaborate with Mrs. Marsh to find a path forward, but no action has been taken on her part except reaching out to local media.

The City remains open to working with Mrs. Marsh to address these issues and move forward collaboratively." Tommy VanHorn, City Administrator of Battlefield

It's worth noting that Marsh did not contact OzarksFirst, but the statement is referring to social media posts about the cancellation.

Marsh reflected on the work she and a friend did, turning a trailer into a sleigh. A sleigh that unless there's some sort of agreement in the next several hours, won't be part of a parade this weekend.

"On the back of this sleigh, we were going to have the banner for suicide prevention. Our hope was that if there was anybody struggling, they would feel seen and heard. I told [my friend] yesterday when we were we were talking about it, we were so excited because, you know, it's the last minute we're trying to put it all together. I said, April, we're going to save a life."

Marsh says it's too early to say if there's going to be a parade next year.

"If I'm going to be honest, as long as the leadership stays the way it is and there's no mediation or no resolution, then I right now I can say I don't see myself going forward with this, but all of this is very fresh," Marsh said.