It takes a lot of planning to put on the Owensboro-Daviess County Christmas Parade. The parade association organizes the event all year, while over 100 businesses, student groups and non-profit organizations spend hours assembling what they hope are prize-winning floats.
But there is one team that comes in after the event has wrapped up and cleans 2nd Street so that one would never know a parade viewed by 20,000 people had just taken place.
That team is made up of six Daviess County Detention Center inmates, led by Deputy Wayne Burns. This is just one example of how the two inmate work crews provide community services that save the city, county and state a significant amount of money each year, according to Jailer Art Maglinger.
“The inmates are helping give back to our community and also able to catch a glimpse of the Christmas cheer downtown at the same time,” Maglinger said.
Maglinger commends Deputy Burns who has consistently given up weekend time over the last several years for this program.
“This year, Deputy Burns was in the middle of vacation and was still willing to help,” Maglinger said.
