I appreciate all of the comments that have been posted in response to the article on reflector.com. I regret any controversy that has been caused by having these events so close together. The decision to keep the parade time at 10:00am was not made hastily. Many factors were considered by the parade committee including comments from past participants, input from the Greenville Police, local media and other city officials.

Many of the Greenville Jaycees are, in fact, Pirate fans. I'll remind everyone that the Grand Marshals for Saturday's parade are Coach Billy Godwin and the 2009 ECU Baseball team. Several Jaycees are season ticket holders and have assigned tailgate spots - this includes the parade chairperson and my family.

The Greenville Jaycees are here to help our young professionals by teaching them skills that are useful in the business world and their personal lives. We do this though our work putting on community events so that we not only help ourselves, but do great things for the community as well. Our organization is 100% volunteer based and our work is done because we are passionate about making a positive difference in ourselves and our community.

In the end it is unfortunate that some people will be inconvenienced by either missing the parade or having to rush from one event to another. Given the information we had I believe keeping the parade time was a good decision and I stand by the committee. As for me, I'll be up before sunrise preparing for the parade. Once I finish my route and people are filled with the Holiday spirit you can find me in section 15 cheering for the Pirates.

BJ Smith
2009 Greenville Jaycees President