April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 27

reverse parade should not be canceled
in light of ongoing coronavirus
(COVID-19) related restrictions.
Dodson also contacted the
Van Buren Police Department to
discuss differences in the logistics
of traffic direction for a reverse parade.
Among
the rules created by
Dodson for TOTMA's 2020 reverse
Christmas parade was a prohibition
on floats displaying any flag other
than the flag of the United States
of America. Bible heard these rules
read aloud at a Crawford County
Republican
Committee
before
Plaintiffs
submitted
meeting
their
application for the 2020 reverse
parade. The application also identified
TOTMA member Joy Holman
as a parade organizer and listed her
contact information, but Holman
had no decision-making authority
over TOTMA's parade.
Apart
from her duties as a point of contact,
Holman only helped Dodson
place floats on Main Street.
Because Plaintiffs previously had
displayed a Confederate flag on their
float without issue, approximately
one month before the parade, Bible's
daughter placed a call to Holman.
During a phone conversation with
Holman, she explained that Plaintiffs
always had displayed their Confederate
flag in the past, mentioned
the 2020 " American flags only " rule,
and asked whether Plaintiffs would
be allowed to display the Confederate
flag from their float during
TOTMA's 2020 reverse parade.
Holman was familiar with the
Sons of the Southern Cross organization
and told Hickerson she was
fine with the Confederate flag and
with Plaintiffs displaying the Confederate
flag from their float. Subsequently,
one of the treasurers for
Sons of the Southern Cross filled
out and submitted an application
for the parade.
Bible, his family and members of
Sons of the Southern Cross then
spent time and money preparing
their float. The float displayed silhouettes
of two American Civil
War soldiers kneeling on either side
of a fabric-draped cross. Below the
cross was a manger and a lit sign
reading, " Under One God. " Tents
were erected on either side of the
float behind the soldier silhouettes.
One tent was labeled " US " and an
American flag was posted behind
it. The other tent was labeled " CS "
and a Confederate flag was posted
behind it. Plaintiffs intended their
float to communicate that Union
soldiers and Confederate soldiers
both worshipped one God and that
Confederate soldiers and the Confederate
flag were not evil.
Eight days before the parade,
Bible called Holman to, again,
communicate Plaintiffs' intent to
display the Confederate flag from
their float. Holman told Bible that
Sons of the Southern Cross had
participated in the parade for a decade
without issue and flying the
Confederate flag would be fine.
After one of the calls with Bible
or his daughter, Holman told Dodson
about the conversation. Dodson
explained that the rule was clear in
the application that only the American
flag could be displayed on a
float. Holman did not call Plaintiffs
back to correct her misstatement of
the rules.
On the morning of TOTMA's reverse
parade, Plaintiffs set up their
float on Main Street. After setting
up the float, Bible and those who
assisted him in setting up Plaintiffs'
float left. In the early afternoon, a
few hours before the reverse parade
was set to begin, a member of the
public drove through the parade
route and noticed the Confederate
flag displayed on Plaintiffs' float.
This member of the public was
bothered by the Confederate flag's
presence in a Christmas parade and,
believing it was divisive, contacted
Mayor Hurst with her complaint
using Facebook Messenger. Mayor
Hurst responded that he understood
her concerns, but the parade was
organized and run by TOTMA.
A Facebook message was then
sent to TOTMA. Dodson saw the
complaint, but she did not respond.
The member of the public then
messaged Mayor Hurst to tell him
TOTMA had not responded. A bit
later, Mayor Hurst responded to her
by saying, " I just talked to TOTMA,
and this is supposed to be removed
. . . no flags. "
That same afternoon, Holman
was in Dodson's store on Main
Street. Dodson was busy managing
last-minute parade details,
including
cancellations due to
COVID-19, when she received the
member of the public's Facebook
complaint. Matt Dodson (a member
of both TOTMA and the Van
Buren City Council, and Lindsay
Dodson's husband) entered the
store holding his phone and told
his wife that " Mayor Hurst's been
getting multiple calls and texts on
his business and personal phone
about the Confederate flag being
displayed, and we needed to have
them take it down. "
Lindsay Dodson walked down
to Plaintiffs' float to confirm the
presence of the Confederate flag and
direct Plaintiffs to remove it, but no
one was there. She then returned to
her store to deal with other parade
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27
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation

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