Fair Weather And Friends Predicted For Labor Day

By Nancy K. Crevier

For the past 15 years Kym Stendahl has served as the chairperson for the annual Labor Day Parade, and this year she anticipates it with as much excitement as ever. The 45th Annual Labor Day Parade, which will strike up the drums and march down Main Street on Monday, September 4, will be, “Just as wonderful as all of the others,” predicts Ms Stendahl. Led by Grand Marshal Patricia Barkman, more than 75 parade participants, ranging from floats to politicians to bands, will lead the town in a joyful, end-of-summer celebration, come rain or shine.

As September 3 evolves into September 4, Ms Stendahl will begin her midnight ritual of roping off areas and enjoying the quiet that precedes the parade. “I love doing that,” she said. “It’s a nice moment. The streets are dark and chairs are set up. People have already marked their spot in anticipation the night before and are looking forward to the parade.”

It is a labor of love, fittingly enough, that drives Ms Stendahl and the Labor Day Parade Committee to rally every year to present the gift of the parade to Newtown residents. Months are spent reviewing the previous year’s parade successes and glitches, finding volunteers for the many positions that must be filled, planning for security and safety, organizing participants, and fundraising. It can be harrowing at times when key people from previous years are unavailable, or funding is tight, but Ms Stendahl knows that she can rely on the enthusiastic spirit of locals to fill in the gaps and that the generosity of Newtown residents will fill the coffers before the bills for the $20,000 parade come due.

The weather, the one thing out of her control, is a yearly worry for Ms Stendahl, but past years’ experiences have taught her to take any weather reports with a grain of salt. “The parade has never been cancelled,” she said, although threats of a hurricane a few years back nearly nixed the event. “I was out setting up cones that year early in the morning and thinking there might not be a parade, when I saw a break of pink in the sky. We ended up with blue skies and a beautiful, sunny day,” she recalled. “I just hope for nice weather.”

Viewers can look forward to all of the familiar bands and drum corps, including Newtown’s own Newtown High School Marching Band, the Shriner’s Klown Unit, fire engines and representatives from each of Newtown’s fire departments, the Governor’s Horse Guard, and marchers from the Newtown school system, as well as a good representation of tractors, farm machinery, and military might.

Roots For Newtown, an environmental coalition, will provide free white pine saplings and directions for their care to any resident willing to commit to the tending of a baby tree. As always, wondrous floats of all shapes and sizes created by local businesses and organizations will compete for the coveted Rooster Award as they pass the judge’s stand on Queen Street.

One of the more elaborate floats that usually graces the streets will be missing from the lineup this year, though. In lieu of a float, Newtown Savings Bank, a Gold Sponsor of the parade and the sponsor of the Queen Street grandstand, has decided to take a new tack. “Instead of doing a float,” said NSB public relations manager Tanya Wulff Truax, “we are throwing a parade viewing party in front of our main office at 39 Main Street.”

“It’s a great way for the bank’s employees and families to get a true feel for the town of Newtown and the spirit that the Labor Day Parade brings to this great community,” said John Trentacosta, president and chief operating officer of NSB.

A tent, seating, and refreshments will be available to employees, their families and the public — with one small catch. “They must bring a nonperishable food donation to the United Way of Northern Fairfield County,” Ms Wulff Truax said. Parking spots for 26 members of the public will be available at the bank on a first come, first served basis, she added.

Parade attendees who choose to sit elsewhere are invited to make food donations, as well, and collection boxes will be placed at the entrances to the bank, as well as at the grandstand on Queen Street.

The parade kicks off at the top of Main Street at 10 am, continues past the flagpole to Glover Avenue to its ending at the old Grand Union parking lot on Queen Street. Donations to support the parade may be mailed to Newtown Labor Day Parade, c/o Newtown Savings Bank, PO Box 497, Newtown CT 06470.

“I feel good knowing that the parade makes people so happy,” Ms Stendahl said.