A parade to remember! 375th Anniversary Parade celebrates Windsor

By: Jacqueline Bennett, Correspondent

10/02/2008

Windsor's 375th Anniversary Parade was a hit!

Held Sept. 28 to celebrate Windsor as the first English settlement in Connecticut, settled in 1633, the two-hour parade featured the pageantry of Connecticut's First Company Governor's Horse Guard, the vivacious Philadelphia Mummers Woodland Strings Band and culminated with a huge birthday cake float that erupted with colorful streamers.

It was led by the Windsor Police Department Honor Guard, including Chief Kevin Searles, Capt. Kelvan Kearse and Officers Russell Wininger, Michael Tustin and Peter Devin. Following the police honor guard was the Windsor Volunteer Fire Department as the parade made its way from Windsor High School to Windsor Center.

"It was absolutely amazing. The crowd was so into it and so were the participants. I think it was the first time for a lot of people, after hearing and reading about the event, that they were able to feel, truly feel, the impact of how old our town is," said Mayor Donald Trinks.
The mayor was among state and local officials who marched in the parade. Heavy rain on Saturday, Sept. 27, the actual anniversary of the town's settlement, postponed the parade to Sunday. For awhile, it appeared rain might be a spoiler on Sunday too but by the 2 p.m. start time, the skies cleared up, the sun came out and parade went on.

According to John Pier, chairman of the 375th Anniversary Planning Committee, as a result of moving the parade to the rain date, some units were not able to be there. Nonetheless, he said, the "essential" community aspects of the parade were present.
"I was quite pleased with the end result. Given the weather, it was spectacular," Pier said.

From the beginning, he added, the goal of the planning committee was to reach out to people with a variety of interests and be inclusive of the surrounding communities, some that are "daughter towns" (once a part of Windsor), and to the fellow founding towns of Hartford and Wethersfield. Among the daughter towns that had floats in the parade were Ellington and East Windsor.

Wethersfield and Hartford were each represented, including a Caribbean Music float from Hartford that provided the sweet steel drum sounds of the islands.
Bringing a touch of humor was a 1970s Disco Era Band float with those on board sporting polyester-type bellbottoms and Afro or long coiffured hair styles, while playing popular songs of the time such as "Disco Inferno."

Churches have played a big role in the history of Windsor, which is home to First Church, the oldest Congregational Church in the nation, the third oldest in the world. Thus, it seemed appropriate that one float depicted an old fashioned church service.
Archer Memorial AME Zion Church had a strong presence in the parade, honoring Connecticut's Freedom Trail stops on the Underground Railroad that helped slaves escape from the South en route to freedom in the North.

Other floats showed a horse-drawn wagon, musicians in Colonial-type garb and farmers on tractors. Windsor has a rich history of tobacco farming, as made famous in the 1960s movie "Parrish" with some filming done on location in town.
Local artist Lon Pelton put together a rolling history of the town that included a series of floats. On one was the bittersweet tale of the loss of the "beloved Windsor House," a downtown restaurant that was demolished a few years ago to make way for a retail store.

On a more upbeat note, the original Bart's sign was turned into a float, punctuating the integral place Bart's Drive-In Restaurant has in the community. Located near the banks of the Farmington River, with its "Magic Hot Dog Grill," it has been in business for more than 60 years.
The parade would not have been complete without the Windsor High School Marching Band, which stopped to perform in front of the reviewing stand near the Main Library on Broad Street, or the Windsor Fife & Drum Corps, under the direction of Fran Dillon.
Of course, there were Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts, marchers from each of the schools and lots of fire trucks. The Shad Derby Queen Float was included, marking the town's signature event - the Shad Derby held every May.

Spectators lined the parade route, applauding as the marchers went by. On the Town Green, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, the Washington Lodge #70 Windsor Freemasons held a pig roast while the Windsor Key Club offered 375th birthday cupcakes.

The parade was the climactic event in a year-long celebration which included a flurry of activities in September - dubbed "A September To Remember."
Capping the parade was a huge 375th birthday cake float that periodically shot out colorful streamers. In a "September to Remember," it was a parade to remember.

©Windsor Journal 2008