Labor Day Parade Committee President Nick Kopcik has issued another call for help for the 2019 Labor Day Parade.

Mr Kopcik had reached out in March, asking Newtown residents of all ages to consider volunteering on the annual event’s planning committee.

“The more people who show up, the less work there is for everyone,” he said at the time.

Volunteers are needed for advance planning and day-of work. A treasurer and second Line of March coordinator are both needed, as are general committee members. On the day of the parade, volunteers will also be needed to help participants find their staging locations, serve as street judges, keep the line of march moving, and other tasks.

The theme and grand marshal for this year have not yet been announced.

“We need a lot of help this year,” Mr Kopcik told The Newtown Bee in March. “We lost a lot of volunteers after last year’s parade, so the potential for not having a parade is almost there.”

The appeal for help was repeated earlier this week, with a stronger warning from the parade president.

“It’s simple,” Mr Kopcik said April 1. “If we don’t get help, there will not be a Labor Day Parade this year.”

The Labor Day Parade Committee has a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, April 24. It will begin at 6 pm in the community room of the main Newtown Savings Bank office, 39 Main Street. All are invited to attend the meeting.

For additional information, or if you cannot attend the April meeting but would like to learn about Labor Day Parade volunteer opportunities, visit newtownctlabordayparade.org.

Easily the largest Labor Day Parade in the state, Newtown has hosted a parade on Labor Day Monday since 1962. An estimated 4,000 people lined the streets of town on September 3, 1962, when Newtown Hook & Ladder Fire Chief Lee Glover served as parade marshal.

The parade steps off at 10 am from the intersection of Main Street and Currituck Road and travels south along Main Street, turns onto Glover Avenue, then picks up Queen Street and heads north to the intersection of Queen Street and Church Hill Road.

For the 53rd parade, in 2018, four full divisions and two escort divisions were filled, with more than 120 groups and organizations — local fire companies, marching bands, schools, groups and clubs, dancers, floats, military vehicles, politicians, et al — joining Grand Marshal Eunice Laverty on that route.