Northcrest and Southgate had an annual tradition of trying to outdo each other with their Christmas parades. The parades used to just include local organizations and a couple of floats. They now each featured rolling Christmas trees from the same farm as the one at Rockefeller Center in New York, Broadway-choreographed numbers, professional carolers, drones, and fireworks.
The kids of Northcrest liked the parade until the mayor announced that the summer pool at the city park would be closed due to budget cuts tied directly to the Christmas parade.
The Northcrest Carsons, six kids ranging in age from 7 to 16, were very upset. The siblings loved spending their summers at the pool with their friends. Now, where were they going to hang out all summer? They knew they had to do something.
The oldest two, Billy and Addy, called a secret meeting in the backyard weeks before the Christmas parade. “What if we burned the Christmas tree down?” Addy asked Billy.
“I’m pretty sure they’d just buy another,” Billy said.
“What if we all ask for a swimming pool for Christmas from Santa?” their middle brother Lyle asked.
“I don’t think Santa visits the mayor. They’re on the naughty list,” Addy assured her brother.
“What if we do a Grinch stole Christmas thing and steal all of the decorations on the floats?” Their diabolical middle sister Violet suggested.
“Or we all show up to the Christmas parade in our swimsuits and demand they open the pool?” the youngest brother Henry said, laughing.
“All great suggestions,” Billy said, “But I don’t think any will work.” The Northcrest Carsons were stumped and gave up, defeated.
That night, Addy texted her cousin Lisa about the problems. Lisa and her family lived in Southgate. They were known as the Southgate Carsons to avoid confusion with the Northcrest Carsons.
Lisa texted back, “We’re having the same problem. They’re closing the reservoir for swimming during the summer so they can funnel money into the Christmas parade.”
Addy told her brother Billy the Southgate news.
“It’s just never going to stop,” Billy said, shaking his head. “They’ll keep spending until neither town can function.”
“That’s it!” Addy said. “We need them to spend until neither town can function. Maybe the adults don’t care that kids can’t swim. But they do care about having a police force. They care about having trash pickup and getting the roads cleared after a snowstorm.”
Billy lit up at the idea. “We need to call our cousins!”
Soon, the Southgate Carsons and the Northcrest Carsons were spreading rumors in their towns about the dueling parades.
Southgate secured Mariah Carey to sing at their parade, so Northcrest needed to hire Michael Bublé. Northcrest had the Radio City Rockettes, so Southgate wanted to book the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Southgate had Jim Carey in a full Grinch costume, so Northcrest rushed to get Tim Allen as Santa Claus.
The rumors worked, and the towns kept spending.
Then, the night before the two parades, a Christmas miracle happened. It snowed. It wasn’t a huge snow, but it was enough to require snow plows. However, the towns had both laid off the snowplow drivers.
On top of that, trash was piling up in the streets along the parade routes, and there were no longer police officers to keep the parade-goers safe.
Billy and his siblings were ready to celebrate when the Mayor of Northcrest showed up at their house in a snowplow and demanded that their parents bring the kids to the Middlebridge City Hall—a neutral site for meetings between Northcrest and Southgate.
When the Northcrest Carsons arrived, they were greeted by their Southgate cousins and the mayors of both towns. The two mayors started in on the siblings, accusing them of ruining both cities with their rumors.
“You could just cancel the parades,” Addy said, “and restore services to everyone.”
The two mayors looked at each other. Luckily, they were in Middlebridge, and they always found a middle-of-the-bridge approach. Mayor Block was ready to help bury the hatchet. “What if we just had one combined parade here for the three towns?”
“I’ll agree if Northcrest agrees,” the Southgate Mayor said.
“I’m already agreeing before Southgate does,” the Northcrest Mayor replied.
The kids cheered, and the Middlebridge mayor suggested they cancel Mariah Carey and Jim Carey and instead have the combined Carson family ride in the parade.
“That sounds great!” Henry answered for the family, “Can we wear our swimsuits?”