Yorktown group apologizes after boat with political message wins parade

YORKTOWN, Va. (WAVY) – The annual lighted boat parade is a fun holiday tradition for families in Yorktown, but this year’s has been marked with controversy. The winner was stripped of his trophy because of the political messaging on his boat.

Captain Bill Berger won over the crowd with his “Let’s Go Brandon” themed boat.

“My boat was best in show to the crowd,” said Berger.

He said the committee knew about the theme and let him go with it, but where the problem lies is the Yorktown Foundation that oversees the groups running the parade cannot be involved in political speech as a 501c3 non-profit.

“I’ve made more apologies in the last 48 hours than for the rest of my life, I hope,” said Yorktown Foundation Director Walt Akers.

Berger’s boat should not have been in the parade, but to make matters worse, he won.

Since then, the boat was stripped of its title and the prize given to the runner-up instead.

On Tuesday, organizers of the Yorktown Lighted Boat Parade congratulated the winners, listing them as:

1st Place. #25. Eclipse “Peace on Earth”
2nd Place. #17. Plains Emergency Response Boat.
3rd Place. #4. Daddy’s Girl

The Yorktown Foundation provided WAVY News 10 a copy of the statement it plans to present at its board meeting Tuesday night.

On December 4th, 2021, several members of the Foundation’s Board of Directors were made aware that a boat with an overt political message had participated in the Yorktown Lighted Boat Parade, and that the judges had awarded it first place. In discussions with the event organizers, they explained that they were equally perplexed that the boat had won and they took immediate corrective actions. The event organizers immediately notified the judges that the boat would be disqualified because its political statements were at odds with the mission of the Foundation, and the second-place boat would be advanced to the winning position. Further, the event organizers agreed to take steps in the coming year to review all entries in advance and
ensure that they do not detract from the community spirit that this event is designed to foster.

The members of the Yorktown Foundation 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.

Yorktown Foundation