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The purpose of the SpokesnFolks Parade is to promote and celebrate all forms of human-powered transportation.
Among the advantages of human-powered transportation are freedom from the economic burdens of motorized transportation, improved physical and emotional well-being, reduced noise and pollution, and traffic structures that are gentler on the land and its citizens.
Neighborhoods are brought closer together as people increasingly interact face-to-face, rather than from within the shells of their cars.
In other words, relying on our own power makes us a richer, healthier, happier people living in cleaner, quieter, friendlier neighborhoods.
In 1997, a group of La Crosse citizens staged a "Critical Mass" bike ride during a Friday-afternoon rush hour. Ten members of the group were cited by local police for obstructing traffic, and challenged their citations in municipal court.
Municipal Judge Edmund Nix, Sr. found the "La Crosse Ten" guilty, but continued, "sometimes I have to be rather innovative with sentencing, so... I want you to do something creative to promote your cause. Write letters to the editor, call radio talk shows, have parades and demonstrations - LEGAL demonstrations..." He asked the group to report back within 60 days on what they did, and said that he would likely waive any fine.
After the verdict, one local rabble-rouser exclaimed, "I don't believe it! He sentenced you to be activists!" People heard the word "parade," and the SpokesnFolks Parade was conceived.
After Judge Nix retired, he participated in SpokesnFolks Parades as a judge... determining who should get the door prizes for best costumes and such. He once said, "never have I been treated so nicely by people I found guilty." The SpokesnFolks Parade continued as an annual event for four years, and returned in 2006 after a five-year hiatus.
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