- WEATHER -
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- COMMUNITY -
Don't forget to celebrate the Parade this Friday, and even more why the Parade of Lights exists!
The Special History of the Parade of Lights:
from the Original Waterville Blog "At Home in the Huddle" by P.S. Brown
If you lived in Waterville in 1988, you cannot have forgotten the first Parade of Lights! (And if you've come to the village since then, you should know the story of this celebration because it is something very special, here: it's a celebration not just of the season but a Celebration of Community - Our Community!)
It was earlier that year that both Rusty Manion and his wife Kitty passed away. Their daughters Darcey and Laurie, and three sons - Sandy, Jeffrey and Michael - were bereft with the loss of both parents and, at the same time, completely overwhelmed with the kindnesses shown them by everyone in the community. One day, Darcey was having coffee with her friends Linda Nichols and Patsy Hill and she said, "I wish there was something we could do to say 'Thank You!' to everyone!" "Thank You notes," she said, "seemed just too inadequate." It occurred to them that perhaps they could do something that hadn't been done in several years - a fun surprise for the village: they could arrange to have lights put on the Big Tree at the point of Monument Park and have it lit! And there would be a parade - fire engines and floats and children all carrying flashlights! - that would lead the way to the tree when the lights were finally to be turned on! And each of the girls told one or two people who told one or two more and in six weeks' time - in an unanticipated avalanche of generosity and cooperation, $5,000 was raised; the Clinton Fire Department's ladder truck came to string the lights, the power company donated equipment and time, the Municipality chipped in, fire companies in all the neighboring communities sent units to be in the parade and ........... well........ the rest is history.The floats became more imaginative and brighter. When it was deemed impossible to have the highschool band march and play (sometimes it's been so cold and stormy that just the thought of putting a flute or trumpet mouthpiece to one's lips caused pain!) the floats were actually wired for sound!
from the Original Waterville Blog "At Home in the Huddle" by P.S. Brown
If you lived in Waterville in 1988, you cannot have forgotten the first Parade of Lights! (And if you've come to the village since then, you should know the story of this celebration because it is something very special, here: it's a celebration not just of the season but a Celebration of Community - Our Community!)
It was earlier that year that both Rusty Manion and his wife Kitty passed away. Their daughters Darcey and Laurie, and three sons - Sandy, Jeffrey and Michael - were bereft with the loss of both parents and, at the same time, completely overwhelmed with the kindnesses shown them by everyone in the community. One day, Darcey was having coffee with her friends Linda Nichols and Patsy Hill and she said, "I wish there was something we could do to say 'Thank You!' to everyone!" "Thank You notes," she said, "seemed just too inadequate." It occurred to them that perhaps they could do something that hadn't been done in several years - a fun surprise for the village: they could arrange to have lights put on the Big Tree at the point of Monument Park and have it lit! And there would be a parade - fire engines and floats and children all carrying flashlights! - that would lead the way to the tree when the lights were finally to be turned on! And each of the girls told one or two people who told one or two more and in six weeks' time - in an unanticipated avalanche of generosity and cooperation, $5,000 was raised; the Clinton Fire Department's ladder truck came to string the lights, the power company donated equipment and time, the Municipality chipped in, fire companies in all the neighboring communities sent units to be in the parade and ........... well........ the rest is history.The floats became more imaginative and brighter. When it was deemed impossible to have the highschool band march and play (sometimes it's been so cold and stormy that just the thought of putting a flute or trumpet mouthpiece to one's lips caused pain!) the floats were actually wired for sound!
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- IN THE MAIL -
Thanksgiving Day - Thursday, November 23rd
9 am @ Firemen's Field
"Please Join us for the 2nd Annual Waterville Turkey Trot!
This will be an informal way for friends,family and neighbors to come out and enjoy a nice walk or run before we sit down with those most important to us to stuff ourselves. I am hoping that everyone will join us in bringing with them food items and/or a monetary donation for the Waterville Area Food Pantry (we will have boxes for the food and an envelope for the cash or check donations). We will meet at the start line for the Mary Cleary Memorial Run (near the Little League Field) and follow the same course. Since this is an informal run/walk please stay on the sidewalks and run or walk whatever distance you want or have time for. The goal for this day is to have fun, get some exercise and support our community through a great organization. "
Click for Link
Plus, music, refreshments, and a visit from Santa in the Firehouse afterwards!
Waterville Historical Society
15th Annual Victorian Tea
British-style Cream Tea featuring scones with strawberry jam and Devonshire cream, Earl Grey tea, hot chocolate, cookies made from recipes in the Historical Society's cookbooks, sweets and savories served at your table. Entertainment by the Historical Choraliers, and a Victorian craft activity. Victorian costume optional. Tickets $12 each or $66 for a table of six. Please call 315-841-4370 for reservations.
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- AROUND TOWN -
Last year...
More flurries this morning, but alternating with beautiful sunrises this year...
Jeff Reynolds found these decorations compliments of the squirrels.
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Enjoy a Happy Thanksgiving!
We'll see you again on Monday, November 27th.
Thanksgiving History
Click for link to full article from history.com
"In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states....
In 1817, New York became the first of several states to officially adopt an annual Thanksgiving holiday; each celebrated it on a different day, however, and the American South remained largely unfamiliar with the tradition. In 1827, the notes magazine editor and prolific writer Sarah Josepha Hale- author, among countless other things, of nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb"-launched a campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. For 36 years, she published numerous editorials and sent scores of letters to governors, senators, presidents and other politicians. Abraham Lincoln finally heeded her request in 1863, at the height of the Civil War, in a proclamation entreating all Americans to ask God to "commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife" and to "heal the wounds of the nation." He scheduled Thanksgiving for the final Thursday in November, and it was celebrated on that day every year until 1939, when Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday up a week in an attempt to spur retails sales during the Great Depression. Roosevelt's plan, known derisively as Franksgiving, was met with passionate opposition, and in 1941 the president reluctantly signed a bill making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November."
