Parade Lineup Welcomes Newcomers And Longtime Favorites

By Nancy K. Crevier

The countdown begins for the annual Newtown Labor Day Parade, and this year parade committee members are hoping not to have to work around a tropical storm. Last year’s end of summer parade turned into a “Welcome to Autumn” event, when Tropical Storm Irene knocked it off its usual course to a date a month later, October 9.

That parade headed down Main Street at 2 pm, on a Sunday afternoon, and committee members discovered that the afternoon start time was popular enough with participants that they decided this year to move the traditional morning parade to a later start time. On Monday, September 3, the parade will kick off at noon.

The committee is pleased to have Dr Z. Michael Taweh and his wife Jocelyn sharing the honors of Grand Marshal. The Tawehs are the founders of Kevin’s Community Center in Newtown, a free clinic serving Sandy Hook and Newtown residents. “Honoring Ten Years of Caring for Newtown” is the parade’s 2012 theme, a nod to the Tawehs and Kevin’s Community Center.

“We have decided to name the Newtown Visiting Nurse Association as our Pioneers and Legends for this year,” said parade committee president Beth Caldwell. “They have always supported the parade and it is a fitting group for this year’s theme,” she added.

The parade welcomes back many familiar bands and entertainers, but before the bands strike up, paradegoers may want to set aside some time to visit the Labor Day Fair, on the grounds of the Newtown Middle School. Food vendors and craftspeople will be on hand, from 9 am to 4 pm, at the Queen Street location.

Leading the way for the 2012 Newtown Labor Day Parade will be the American Legion Post 308 Men’s Auxiliary Honor Guard, followed closely by the Newtown High School Marching Band.

Vying for the coveted Rooster Award, viewers can expect Newtown’s fire companies to be putting their best feet forward in hopes of trumping the many floats, bands, and dancers that aim to please. There will be some new competition this year, said parade committee coordinator Robin Buchanan.

“We are pleased to have the Nathan Hale Ancient Fife & Drums from Coventry join us this year, and the Clan Ross Pipes & Drums from Waterbury,” said Ms Buchanan. The Connecticut Tiare Polynesian Dance Troupe out of Brookfield will entertain along the parade route, with classic Hawaiian, Polynesian, and Tahitian dancing.

“We are told that the Blue Colony Diner is entering two floats with 20 people this year, too,” Ms Buchanan said.

The bright red Wells Fargo stagecoach pulled by a team of specially trained horses will return for its second appearance in the history of the Newtown parade.

It would not be a Labor Day Parade without politicians, and in this election year, viewers will find a host of local and state politicians, said Ms Buchanan. The Newtown Police Department Honor Guard will escort that division, which will include senatorial hopefuls Linda McMahon and Christopher Murphy, Senator Richard Blumenthal, and Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman.

Paradegoers will find two different ways to support the Faith Food Pantry, as well. Picking up where daughter Breanne Lubinsky and Spencer Erhardt left off, Linda Lubinsky will be on the parade route collecting for “One Can Make(s) A Difference.” Created three years ago by Breanne, then picked up last year by Newtown High School student Spencer Erhardt when Breanne went off to college, residents are asked to bring a donation for the food pantries to the parade.

With both students now in college, there was a fear that the Fourth Annual One Can collection would not happen this year. But marching at the end of Division One, and wearing bright orange T-shirts, Breanne’s mother and friends will take on the task of gathering the goods, which they hope will be handed over in plastic shopping bags.

Former Newtown resident Cheryl Henson has come up with a T-shirt design based on two Newtown icons, the golden rooster atop the Meeting House, and the bee weathervane perched above The Newtown Bee office building. “I Shot The Rooster… but I did not take the bumblebee,” reads the T-shirt that Ms Henson will be selling on the parade route for $15 each. Proceeds will benefit Faith Food Pantry.

Binoculars might help you see way up the street, but Newtown Lions members are asking residents to bring along their used eyeglasses. The Lions will sweep the crowd, collecting eyeglasses of all prescriptions, men’s, women’s, or children’s, for distribution in third-world countries.

A parade does not come without costs, though, and committee members urge residents to consider supporting the parade through donations at newtownctlabordayparade.org.

“We are grateful to our sponsors this year,” said Ms Caldwell. At the platinum sponsorship level is Newtown Savings Bank; Rotary International of Newtown, Clinical Laboratory Partners, Ingersoll Automotive, and Associated Refuse Haulers hold gold sponsorships; silver sponsors are Newtown Hardware and Caraluzzi’s Newtown Market. Event sponsors, also helping to defray the costs of paying bands and entertainers, are the Newtown Lions Club, DaSilva Law Firm, Athenson Associates, the Newtown Prevention Council, Leahy’s, Haas Insurance, Village Eye Care, and Savings Bank of Danbury. Supporters include Geovanni Cono, DDS, and William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty.

“Todd Ingersoll is always so generous with his cars and transportation for the parade each year, and a resident. It’s great to have him come on board as a gold sponsor this year,” Ms Caldwell said.

Parking will be available at Hawley School, Caraluzzi’s, the Big Y, St Rose School, and the former Lexington Gardens property.

The local roads will be closed by the police at 11:15 am, and will stay closed until after the parade.

“We figure we got our bad luck out of the way with weather last year,” said Ms Caldwell, “and this year we’re looking for smooth sailing. Come early, get some food at the fair, find a place to sit, and enjoy the show.”