Black Out truck not allowed in Chambersburg Christmas parade

(Chambersburg) — After hearing a black truck called Black Out will not be allowed to participate in Chambersburg’s Christmas parade, residents have begun expressing their outrage over the issue.

Black Out, a Super Series semi, participated in the parade last year, and according to the owner, Chuck Timbrook, the truck was a hit with the community. Timbrook said he blew his horns for children and played the National Anthem for attendees.

“At the end of the National Anthem, the people are so patriotic there that I couldn’t even hear when I started the truck,” Timbrook said. “That’s how loud it was in that square.”

After playing the National Anthem, the truck then continued with the parade and “people peeled out of the square” to continue watching Black Out, Timbrook said. However, Santa Claus was six vehicles behind Timbrook, which meant when people walked over to see Black Out, many of them missed seeing Santa Claus. Timbrook was told after the event that next year he would be at the front of the parade, instead.

However, he was then surprised when he applied again for the parade and was denied.

Timbrook received an email from the Downtown Business Council of Chambersburg which said Black Out was not allowed to participate this year because it was too loud and they wanted keep the Christmas atmosphere. He said he responded to the email and said he would not blow his horns and would include a Christmas wreath on his front bumper if they let Black Out in the parade, but so far has not heard anything back.

He also said after posting about the incident on Facebook yesterday, his profile has “blown” up with people from Chambersburg, Waynesboro, Greencastle, Hagerstown, Mercersburg and Shippensburg who are angry Black Out won’t be in the parade.

Timbrook said he was upset when he first got rejected. He said Black Out is meant to be a vehicle which shows support for fallen and current veterans.

“It’s making me fee like, well we don’t want (the truck) there because it might offend somebody,” he said

Chambersburg resident Brandy Strickland said she didn’t agree with the council’s reasoning for not including the truck in the parade.

“He was playing the National Anthem … He wasn’t purposefully being loud,” she said.

Strickland also participates in the parade with her Jeep Wrangler, and said her Jeep is more Christmas-related than Black Out.

“To me, he is Christmas-related,” she said. “We have men and women who aren’t here who are fighting for our country overseas and everything else. What better time to think about them then during our holiday season?”

Strickland said if Black Out is not allowed to participate in the parade, then she will not participate, as well, and will instead drive her Jeep in Greencastle’s parade where Black Out is allowed.

*The Public Opinion reached out to the Downtown Business Council of Chambersburg, but did not get a response before this story was published.

 

This article is part of a content-sharing partnership between Public Opinion Online and WITF.