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GENNEWS

Newtown's 36th Annual Labor Day Parade w/ cuts

The rain stopped, the skies cleared and the 36th annual Labor Day Parade

stepped off as scheduled at 10 am Monday to the delight of the thousands of

people who lined the parade route.

More than 100 units - approximately 2,000 marchers - celebrated the theme

"Newtown - Our Town."

Ginny Lathrop, founder and director of the Lathrop School of Dance, was this

year's grand marshal. The parade judges included Sally Allison, Kathy Berg,

Bill Colbert, Bob Gleason, Jean Muraszkin and Ed O'Malley.

The Danbury Railroad Museum won first place in the float division; the office

of Dr Henry Gellert took second place.

The Best Musical Senior Division winner was the Mattatuck Drum Corps. The Sons

of Portugal took second place.

In the Best Musical Junior Division, the Grassy Plain Drum Corps finished

first; Westbury Drum Corps took second.

The Connecticut Alumni Drum and Bugle Band took the Rooster Award as the most

crowd-pleasing.

In the non-musical category, Meals on Wheels won first place with a

performance of in-line skating in which Tim Murtha, 13, went up a ramp and

successfully jumped over nine prone persons including Dr Richard Coopersmith

who, along with Dr Henry Gellert, was a parade emcee. The Pyramid Shriners

Motor Patrol took second place in the non-musical category.

In the annual fire company competition, Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire And Rescue

again took first; Hawleyville finished second.

Hawley Elementary School won the first-place school trophy. Alyssa Stendahl,

7, won best clown.

Marchers throwing everything from candy to bagels and ice pops delighted the

crowd which lined the length of the parade route: from the top of Main Street,

along Glover and Queen Street to the judge's reviewing stand.

Balloonist Chris Mooney, assisted by members of Explorer Post 70, gave

tethered hot air balloon rides at the Ram Pasture before the parade. The event

was sponsored by Re/Max for the benefit of the Children's Miracle Network.

The parade is sponsored by the Newtown Summer Festival. The parade committee

includes Kym Stendahl, who has been the chairman for six years, and Lisa

Franze, Sharon Aguila, Valerie Giarratano and Lynn Kuhn.

"What a great parade it was," Kym Stendahl enthused after it was over. "The

parade moved along without gaps because of the terrific job done by the street

directors who accompany each division."

"People who wanted to be in the parade but hadn't signed up showed up anyway

at the last minute and we found a spot for them," she said. "The weather

cooperated after all and everybody seemed to have a good time."

The parade costs about $15,000 to stage each year, of which $10,000 is needed

for the transportation and related expenses of the marching bands and

performing units. The rest is used for trophies, prizes, printing, postage,

insurance and other expenses.

Mrs Stendahl said that although some bills still must be paid, the committee

thinks it may have met its goal, particularly because this year it took over

the responsibility of producing the parade program.

"The town really came through for us," she said.

Donations, to start work on next year's parade, may be sent to Newtown Summer

Festival, c/o Fleet Bank, 6 Queen Street, Newtown 06470.