Better Late Than Never:

Labor Day Parade Steps Off October 9

By Nancy K. Crevier

After a month of around-the-clock scrambling, the ten members of the Newtown Labor Day Parade Committee are ready to get the show on the road, said committee president Beth Caldwell. Ms Caldwell, Dan Cruson, Robin Buchanan, Tom D’Agostino, Brian Amey, Ellie Whalen, Kym and Kelly Stendahl, Andy Cluff, and Steve Bigham have all been “working overtime to present the best parade in 50 years,” said Ms Caldwell.

Parade vice president and parade participant liaison Robin Buchanan gave special thanks to Mr D’Agostino, noting “he has been our ‘go-to’ guy since January. Without his energy and contacts, we wouldn’t have half the groups that we do have in the parade.”

Rescheduling the September 5 annual end-of-summer event, due to the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene, has been challenging, Ms Caldwell said, but the committee is looking forward to Sunday, October 9, when the 50th anniversary parade steps off from the top of Main Street, at 2 pm, led by the Newtown High School Marching Band.

The committee is pleased to have former fire chief and native Newtown resident Lee Glover return for a third stint as Grand Marshal. Mr Glover was Grand Marshal of Newtown’s first Labor Day Parade. Twelve other former Grand Marshals will join him in celebrating the parade’s 50th year, all riding in vintage automobiles.

“With the postponement of the parade last month, this has actually become even more of a community event, thanks to the great amount of help we have had from First Selectman Pat Llodra, the Newtown Police Department, and other town organizations,” said Ms Caldwell. “It has brought our town together in an even greater way, and the Newtown Police Department, in particular, has been amazing through this whole process of handling the different date and time,” she added.

The parade gets underway at 2 pm, but the 50th Newtown Labor Day Parade festivities begin earlier in the day with the Parade Fair, on the grounds of the Newtown Middle School on Queen Street, at 10 am until 4 pm. Vendors, crafts, and lots of fun activities are on tap for this first ever Parade Fair, said Ms Caldwell, under the organization of Newtown resident and artist Stacey Olzewski.

Roads will close in the town center at 1:45 pm, the same time that the unfurling of the first of three giant American flags takes place at the flagpole. Parade viewers are encouraged to arrive early and participate in that unfurling of the 45- by 90-foot flag. Two more giant American flags will be unfurled just after the start of the parade, around 2:10 pm, in front of the Queen Street Grandstand.

“Drumming up” bands for the parade has been particularly hard, said Ms Buchanan. Many of the bands that have delighted Newtown paradegoers for the past 49 parades are unable to attend the October 9 parade, due to prior commitments for the Columbus Day weekend.

As of October 3, only three other bands were scheduled to join the Newtown High School Marching Band in providing the beat to the parade. “We are happy to have the Sons of Portugal Band, the Germantown Ancients Pipe & Drum, and the Connecticut Rebels of ’76,” said Ms Buchanan. She has been sending out pleas to bands as far away as New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, as well as to other area high school bands. “We are hopeful that we will still receive positive responses from some of those bands,” she said. The parade committee has a small amount of money that can be used to pay for transporting bands outside the area, she said, so that is also limiting the search.

Due to the date change, the committee has been notified that several organizations and clubs are no longer able to enter a float in the parade, Ms Buchanan said, nor will the elementary schools be sending representative groups or floats.

Fewer bands and floats may mean a shortened parade, she said, “But it will still be our 50th, and it will still be festive,” Ms Buchanan guaranteed.

There are still many parade entries that will capture the hearts of those attending the October 9 parade, said Ms Caldwell. “The Wells Fargo Coach and Driver will be in the parade, and we still expect the flyover by vintage airplanes, in addition to the giant American flags,” she said.

One group that committee members are very pleased to welcome back is the Newtown Rotary Club, which they have named as the recipient of the 2011 Legends and Pioneers Award, “for the pivotal role they played in organizing the first parade 50 years ago,” Ms Caldwell said.

Monsignor Robert Weiss has agreed to emcee the parade. He will join John Klopfenstein at the flagpole grandstand, announcing each group as it passes by. Reviewing the parade from the Queen Street grandstand will be Mike Giarrdatano and Mary Ann Murtha.

Also at the grandstand on Queen Street will be this year’s judges, Amy Mangold, Dr Bob Grossman, and Bruce Herring, to help determine which entry will march off with the Rooster Award for 2011. The judges will arrive at the grandstand in an antique fire truck.

The always popular fire engines and firefighters of each of Newtown’s five fire companies will be represented in the parade, as will other emergency services from town.

The parade committee is very grateful to its Platinum Sponsor, Newtown Savings Bank, for supporting the end-of-summer event, as in previous years, said Ms Caldwell. Additionally, the Rotary Club of Newtown is providing funding through a Gold Sponsorship, and Steve Bigham of Newtown Publishing, and the DaSilva Law Firm are providing support as Silver Sponsors. The Savings Bank of Danbury, Newtown Hardware, and the Newtown Lions Club are Event Sponsors.

“We are keeping our fingers crossed now for a beautiful, sunny fall day,” said Ms Caldwell, “and looking forward to a great parade.”