The Wausau, Florida Town Council met in regular session on Thursday, July 9, 2020 to discuss, among other issues, the audit of the municipality, overdue water bills, and the August 1, 2020 Wausau Possum Festival Parade.
With only a single dissenting vote, the Council approved the parade, already permitted by the Florida Department of Transportation.
The Wausau Community Development Club is executing an abbreviated version of the Wausau Possum Festival, this year celebrating 51 years, with the parade, a commemorative publication celebrating the history of the festival and a virtual Possum King and Possum Queen contest, to be filmed and broadcast, as well as a Quilt Auction, a longtime mainstay of the festival.
The publication and King/Queen Contest will serve as fundraisers for the town, which relies heavily on the revenues from the annual Possum Festival to fund the scholarships given each year to high school graduates by the Development Club.
Developed in 1970 by Dalton Carter, at that time one of the founding members of the Development Club, the Wausau Fun Day and Possum Festival has long been the prime fundraiser for the Wausau Volunteer Fire Department, the Development Club and the Quilters Club in Wausau.
On Thursday, the Wausau, Florida Town Council agreed to allow the parade if, on the day of the parade, which is August 1, 2020, Florida Governor DeSantis has not changed social distancing regulations enough to disallow the assemblage.
