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Boat Wins Parade Prize, Gets Title Stripped Over Support for Someone Named Brandon – Opinion

By Pluralist / December 11, 2021

Few things are more frustrating than losing and winning.

This fate was recently matched by a Virginia boat owner.

Captain Bill Berger entered his boat into the Best-Decorated Boat Contest, winning First Place.

The competition concerned a kind of Christmas decor — it was the annual yuletide Yorktown Lighted Boat Parade.

WKTR was able to hear Bill’s triumph story.

“When we left, we were declared the winner.”

It sure must’ve felt fantastic.

Unfortunately, at some point, a change of heart was had — by the Yorktown Foundation’s board of directors.

Why were the carpets so hurriedly pulled?

As it turned out, the Powers That Be determined Bill’s boat had featured an “overt political message.”

And that — purportedly — counted as a disqualifier.

Dr. Walt Akers, a board member, praised the ship’s sharpness:

“It was very well lit — it was a beautiful boat.”

“The guy did a great display,” he said. “The crowd was very responsive to it.”

Bill was the winner of over a lot of people and won them the prized championship.

His buoyant joy soon became a sinking feeling of second thoughts.

Dr. Walt suspects — as stated by the New York Post — “that judges did not know what the slogans meant and were swayed by huge cheers the vessel got at the show.”

The boat was awarded Best in Show Saturday, December 4.

However, according to CBS3, “by Tuesday, the Lighted Boat Parade was getting national attention for all the wrong reasons.”

Bill was only able to offer assistance for the presumed underdog.

Brandon clearly needed some help.

Bill lent a helping hand in the form of “Let’s go.”

But the board didn’t appreciate the boost.

Walt expressed regret to WKTR

“We absolutely apologize for this. We had no idea this was going to happen, and we regret it.”

And:

“If it wasn’t just for this political issue, I think the guy would have had a very good chance. The crowd was very responsive to it, and I think it’s possible the judges may have responded to the crowd activity.”

Does it seem politically to encourage others?

The slogan was seen by Captain Bill as having a governmental bent. However, it is righteous.

“We have a horrible president. Does it seem inappropriate? In today’s world, I don’t think so.”

Channel 3 offers more information:

Since 1995, the family-friendly event has been in existence. Akers said this has never happened before, adding because the foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, it can’t be involved in political speech.

“[B]y law, we’re not allowed to have any political view,” Walt explained.

The Foundation met Tuesday night to talk about ways that they can prevent such an event from happening again.

Back to Bill, his boat also boasted the initials “FJB,” which I can only assume, in the holiday spirit, stood for “Frosty and Jingle Bells.”

Walt released the following statement.

“The members of the Yorktown Foundation,” he wrote, “wish to reiterate that our mission continues to be to unify our community through events and activities that showcase everything that is wonderful about Yorktown, York County and our citizens.”

“While we recognize that political divisiveness is a factor in our daily discourse, we DO NOT want it to negatively impact anyone’s enjoyment of our community events. We regret that this incident occurred, and we will work to avoid such events in the future.”

Let’s hope next year’s contest stays free from controversy.

And to Brandon, wherever you are: I hope you’re okay.

-ALEX

 

You can find more of my content here:

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Check out all of my RedState work Click here.

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Pluralist

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