Volunteers from the community have “come out in droves” to support the Parade of Gold for Michael Phelps and other Maryland Olympians in Towson on Saturday.
“This is going to be one of the top events we’ve ever had,” said Nancy Hafford, executive director of the Towson Chamber of Commerce. “The thing that stands out is we’ve had an outpouring of people who want to volunteer.”
Hafford said the chamber expects as many as 50,000 people to attend the parade, which begins at the intersection of York Road and Burke Avenue at 3 p.m.
Baltimore County held a similar event after the Athens Olympics, when 15,000 people attended, but that was before hometown hero Phelps won a record eight gold medals in Beijing and became an international phenomenon. And it seems everyone from the community wants to be involved, Hafford said.
“With other events, sometimes you’ve really got to push and pull to get people to come out,” Hafford said. “We’ve been getting so many calls, and we have more than 80 volunteers from the community, in addition to more than 160 who work for the county.”
The Parade of Gold is hosted by Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith, and headliner participants include Phelps, Katie Hoff, Jessica Long and other Maryland Olympians and Paralympians.
“We hope that this will be a day to remember for Michael Phelps and all of our Olympic champions,” Smith said. “We encourage everyone to come out and show their support at the Parade of Gold in Towson and at the Star Spangled Salute down at Ft. McHenry.”
Planning for the event has been in the works since before the Olympics in August, said Ellen Kobler, spokeswoman for the Baltimore County Department of Economic Development. “It’s been very much a multi-department effort,” Kobler said. “We’ve been in touch with public safety officials, traffic officials and area businesses and institutions.”
Parking for the parade will be free in all public parking garages in the downtown Towson area, and parking meters in Towson will be free from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. The Star Spangled Salute to Michael Phelps begins at 7 p.m. at Fort McHenry. Gates open at 3 p.m.
“In a time when there are so many scary things going on in the economy, it’s nice to have something positive and free,” Hafford said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime event.”
