Northfield observes 27th annual Labor day Parade

By Rachel Nutting
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

It was not your typical Monday. A crowd of 10,000 had come out to see floats, firetrucks, antiques, cannons and the Corp of Cadets. Northfield's 27th Annual Labor Day Parade began shortly after 10:30 a.m. with every green space along Main Street crowded with onlookers. Sixty-five entrants were in this year's parade, with an average of 20 to 30 floats, according to the chairperson of the parade.

This year's theme was Life in the Jungle. There were four cash prizes ranging from $150 to $50 given to the best floats. The Emma Sargent trophy, which was named in honor of a former Northfield teacher, was given to the float that used the most recycled material.

The Vermont State Employees Association won the grand prize, with a float having jungle greenery and a waterfall in the back of a pickup with a cardboard rhinoceros towed behind it. The Central Vermont Harley owners placed first; their theme was Rumble in the Jungle and all the participants wore black leather and some had black face paint.

Second place went to the Raging Grannies International Woman League for Peace and Freedom; their float was a large truck with stuffed toy jungle animals hanging from the sides. Inside the back of the pickup were jungle greeneries and many middle-aged women.

Third place went to the Washington County Special Olympics. They dressed up as jungle animals and rode in the back of a trailer decorated with jungle greenery. The trophy this year went to the Berlin Elementary School, whose theme was ABC's of the Jungle.

New to the parade were the Catamount Pipes and Band, and the Green Mountain Dixie Band. The faces not seen this year were the politicians'.

In past years, politicians have marched. The politicians were "uninvited" to take part in the parade, Charlie Morris, the Town Manager, said. Chairperson of the parade, Liz O' Connor, said, "I think the majority of the people do not like politicians in the parade. Then there are some that do."

Yet, the Observance Day Committee decided three years ago not to have politicians march in the parade. The reasons behind this stem from, as O'Connor said, "Some of them, the last year they were here, did not want to march where I had said they had to march. Some of them, and I am not going to mention any names, were not cooperative with me or volunteers I had. Some wanted to march with Governor Dean or the lieutenant governor."

Another reason the politicians were banned from the parade was that they were not following the guidelines of the parade "not to hand out literature, buttons, stickers" because it litters the streets (the town was responsible for cleaning it up). The committee gears the parade to be fun, --family-oriented, without having politicians handing out their flyers or leaflets, said O'Connor.

This year, Morris said he received letters and phone calls, all saying that the parade was "spectacular: the cadets, army trucks, police car, fire trucks, and firing cannons."

"Everybody says Northfield puts on a wonderful parade; love to see the cadets." The cadets represent dedication to their country, said Morris.

There were 1,000 cadets; 311 were new recruits who had two weeks to learn how to march before the parade.

The day of the parade, the cadets appeared in their "dress day uniform and practiced marching on the fire road," said Regimental Commander Scott Mckay, 20, a chemistry major from La Platu, Maryland. They lined up by Plumley in the order assigned for the parade.

The cadets' march would have been uneventful had a train not crossed their path.

A freight train stopped the parade from crossing the tracks on Water Street for 10 minutes. McKay said, "I stopped the cadets 10 or 11 feet from the tracks and waited for the train to pass by."

In the four years that O'Connor has been chairperson of the parade, she said, "that was the first time the train has gone through" while the parade was happening.

Overall, the parade was a great success, and there were no mishaps, according to Patrolman Michael R. Willis, who was in charge of traffic control at Crescent and Main Street.

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