The Butler Eagle’s decision to step down as primary sponsor of the Spirit of Christmas parade must not doom the holiday event.

More than seven months out from what would be the 48th annual parade, there is plenty of time for the community to call together its resources for a frank discussion of all of the issues in keeping the event alive.

Mayor Maggie Stock said “perhaps the parade has lived its life span,” and maybe it has. However, it’s premature to embrace a defeatist attitude — not without community groups and other entities coming together for a brainstorming session on what options for keeping the parade alive are available.

Butler Downtown is a logical organization for setting up such a community meeting.

Organizing the parade is not an easy task; it involves many man-hours of effort, said Ronald Vodenichar, Butler Eagle co-publisher and general manager, in announcing the newspaper’s decision after a decade of parade sponsorship.

It also involves considerable expense, whose impact could be less daunting if several groups, businesses — whatever — pooled their resources on behalf of the event.

Stock said, “I think we’ve been trumped by Black Friday,” the big-bargains event that officially kicks off holiday shopping.

But the traditional morning-after-Thanksgiving parade, which was held a week early last November to accommodate the schedule of the Butler High School band, needs to be evaluated in terms of other scheduling options as well — such as a Wednesday or Thursday evening.

Downtown businesses might be able to boost their holiday season sales totals and introduce themselves to new customers if they opened — and stayed open late — on the night of the parade, if it were held on a weeknight on which they usually were closed.

The holiday parade is an event that merits cooperation and open-mindedness from all entities. Avoiding Black Friday or a Saturday could be a plus, although it’s true that some people never will be satisfied with the event on any other day than Black Friday.

A number of complaints were voiced last year over the parade’s new date, including in letters to the editor.

But Black Friday shopping, which has become a tradition for many families, has kept some people from attending the parade — and that must be factored into any community discussion about the parade’s future.

The attitude has been expressed many times that the city must do everything possible to bring people downtown. Allowing the parade to die without a determined effort to save it would be contrary to that correct objective.

To keep the parade as a vibrant holiday event, new sponsors should make a multiyear commitment on the parade’s behalf. The Butler Eagle has offered to make details of its planning available to new sponsors who would choose to come forward.

It’s Easter, but it’s not too early to begin a major push on behalf of keeping the Spirit of Christmas parade on the city’s events agenda. To do otherwise would be a disservice to the community’s best interests.