Video: The 2012 St. Patrick’s Parade in Morristown, from the line of march

Here is a video view of the 2012 Morris County St. Patrick’s Parade from the line of march. A splendid time was had by all!

The parade is a highlight of every year for us at MorristownGreen.com. We have had some splendid adventures, and met many splendid people, in and out of the line of march since 2008.  The joy on the face of Grand Marshal Rich Smith on Saturday was the closest thing you will ever see to the grownup version of a kid on Christmas morning. Simply remembering that sight makes us happy.

MG correspondent Robyn Quinn–who is being honored next week by the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office for her wonderful volunteer work as a parade organizer–compared the parade to a symphony.  It takes many musicians to make a great performance.

The analogy extends to the great folks who marched with MG and celebrated with us afterward. We are thankful for these friends and neighbors who share their precious time and talent with us, and with you.

Per usual, Sharon Sheridan was masterful at marching and covering the parade. Sharon is putting together some high-quality children’s art events next month at St. Peter’s; please visit her Kickstarter page and support this project if you are able.

Scott Schlosser, Paul Hausman, Berit Ollestad and Hal Crosthwaite also trained their lenses on the parade; their eye-popping results will be rolling online as fast as we can post them.

Speaking of rolling, we were thrilled to use the wearing of the green to promote green energy–in the form of John Tetz’s pedal-powered velomobile. John is an artist and engineer who designed this unique banana-shaped vehicle himself, to the delight of squealing kids along the parade route. His starring role in The Last Ride of Sustainable Man at our MG Film Fest last year is another example of art imitating life.

John wasn’t the only environmental movie star parading with us. Donna Bangiola, star of The Legend of Lake Pocahontas at the 2010 MG Film Fest, devotes much of her spare time to cleanups of Lake Pocahontas, a little known jewel in our midst.

The symphony analogy was particularly apropos for our house band, Timeless Jazz, stars of Morristown’s Got Talent! Gus and Peter Bacas have enlivened countless MG events with their sparkling riffs. They gave their instruments the day off this time, and we are glad the brothers had a chance simply to enjoy the parade.

There also was true valor in our ranks–and we’re not just talking about enduring the embarrassment of cavorting with a guy in 18th century loungewear.

The parade route took MG contributor Judy Stein-Loewenthal near the manhole that injured her arm in an explosion last summer. That cannot be a pleasant memory; we applaud Judy’s courage.

It also was a privilege marching with (in alphabetical order)  Irene Avlonitis; Mitzi Chaves;  Judy’s husband Steve Loewenthal and sons Zachary and Jake and their dog Sky; Jackie Ollestad and her grandson Mateo; Leslie Raff; Stacey Schlosser; Cathy Veit; Douglas Vorolieff, and the young ladies who joined our parade in progress. MG correspondents Marie Pfeifer and Carl Hausman circled up with us later.

Of course, an Army marches on its stomach, and our troops were well fed by Chef Melody of the Main Event.

The soundtrack on the video is courtesy of Flutatious!

MORE ABOUT THE ST. PATRICK’S PARADE

Photos by Scott Schlosser and Kevin Coughlin. Please click icon below for captions.

Video: Morristown’s big parade…circa 1939

We stumbled across this historical gem in our digital travels.

It’s unclear which big parade is depicted; the absence of bagpipers suggests Morristown was celebrating a holiday other than St. Patrick’s Day.

This much we can say: They marched pretty darned fast back then!

MORE ABOUT THE MORRISTOWN ST. PATRICK’S PARADE

MG Kids reports on Mendham’s Labor Day parade

      

Every Labor Day, Kathy Seabrook and Michael Furgueson host brunch on their front porch along Main Street in Mendham for family and friends who gather to watch the borough’s annual parade. This year’s guests came from as away as Indiana and included many parishioners from St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown, which the couple attends. One of the guests, a junior correspondent for MorristownGreen.com, provided this report.    

By Carl Hausman, MG Kids correspondent     

On Labor Day, I went to something quite fascinating: a parade!     

It was the Labor Day parade, as I’m pretty sure you can guess. It was in the town of Mendham. We were at a friend’s house and there were bagels, mouse cupcakes, etc., to eat.     

And then the parade started. There were fire trucks, the mayor, bands – just about everything you could think of to be in a Labor Day parade.     

It was lots of fun, but the most fun part was swinging a little afterward while I buried my nose in a new Dungeons and Dragons book. However, nothing can really beat Tootsie Rolls bigger than your thumb that came out of enormous baskets preceding bands playing some of your favorite songs. (A lot of the candy they threw out to the crowd mysteriously disappeared into my pockets. Even more vanished when I turned into one of the scavengers picking up afterwards.)     

And so that was what the Labor Day parade was like for me.     

Carl Hausman, 11, attends St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown.    

MG Kids gives thumbs-up to the Morris Plains parade

By Carl Hausman, MG Kids Correspondent

On Saturday, my mother and I plus my mom’s boss and a couple other people marched in the Memorial Day parade in Morris Plains.

My dad just took pictures of the parade where we weren’t. My mom wasn’t sure whether that was thinking ahead or not wanting to be seen with my mom’s boss, Kevin. He was dressed up as George Washington.

Are you wondering what we were in the parade for? It sounds ironic, but it was for this very program, MorristownGreen.com.

Ahead of us was a group of dog owners with their dogs marching in the parade to celebrate the opening of a new dog park. My favorites were a group of three Tibetan mastiffs. They had thick fur and must have been absolutely sweltering.

Just behind us was a long line of antique cars. There was a blue one at the head.

We had to get held back because we were in the wrong place. Originally we’d thought we were just in front of the Denville String Band. They were rather eccentric with giant feathers sticking out of their backs.

Also, just in back of the string band but in front of the dogs were some sheepherding dogs herding goats with tractors driving behind.

My job in the parade was to help hold up the Morristown Green banner. When you’ve got the wind trying to carry you away and somebody who keeps talking his phone holding the other end and your arms are sore, it is not as easy as it looks!

The food at the end was just excellent. There were hot dogs, birch beer and water. And in one of the bands that was staying and playing some, there was a mother of one of my friends. She was playing the fife.

After awhile, we went home. It was very exciting. I can’t wait to go next year.

Do you like to write? MG Kids welcomes junior reporters for our staff. We also encourage kids of all ages to submit artwork, poetry and fiction for publication on our site. Click here for more information.

The Morris Plains Memorial Day parade, photographed by Paul Hausman

That was some parade in Morris Plains on Saturday. The photos keep streaming in. Here are some memorable moments preserved by Paul Hausman.

MORE FROM MEMORIAL DAY

The Morris Plains Memorial Day parade, through the lens of Hal Crosthwaite

We had a wonderful time marching in Saturday’s Memorial Day Parade in Morris Plains. If there was any downside, it was that we could not see many of the colorful floats that were ahead of us.

Fortunately, Hal Crosthwaite was there with his trusty camera. He did his usual terrific job capturing the color and pageantry of the parade. Check out these photos:

Photos by Hal Crosthwaite.

The Morris Plains Memorial Day parade celebrates 25th anniversary in style

The sun was glorious. The F-16C fighter jets buzzed overhead as scheduled. The hot dogs and birch beer at VFW Watnong Post 3401 tasted great afterward.

Thank you, Morris Plains, for another Memorial Day Parade worthy of the men and women that it honors.

Saturday marked the parade’s 25th anniversary in the “Community of Caring.”  Mayor Frank Druetzler, parade organizer Steve Welsh, and their volunteers care a lot about the details; we tip our tri-cornered hats to them, by George!

About 100 groups and organizations participated. MorristownGreen.com was proud to be among them for the fourth straight year.

Please click icon below for captions.

Our thanks to all the parade folks, and to the VFW, for their hospitality. Thanks also to parade announcer Larry Ripley for his nice shout-out.

And thank you to members of the MG family who shared part of their holiday weekend with us in Morris Plains:

MG Kids Editor Sharon Sheridan, MG Kids Correspondent Carl Hausman, and photographers Paul Hausman and Hal Crosthwaite; bagpiper extraordinaire Jim Hicks; Timeless Jazz, the MG house band, featuring Gus Bacas, Peter Bacas, Anthony Galante and Evan Piascik; dining critic Warren Bobrow; Mike, Irene and Connor Leavey, and Connor’s aunt, Connie Van Trease; and Danielle and Ken Barker.

The right to march as free Americans was bought at a dear price. The biggest thank you must go to the servicemen and women who sacrificed everything for this country. They deserve to be in our hearts today, and every day.

Morristown police report large crowds, few arrests at parade

Perhaps making up for smaller numbers at last year’s rescheduled parade, Saturday’s Morris County St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Morristown apparently drew the largest crowd in years, police reported.

Police arrested 13 people and issued 135 citations, with most incidents occurring after the parade ended, the Morristown department said. “The crowds were managed, and any problems were handled.” Officers from several other jurisdictions assisted Morristown police.

Police reported making arrests for three assaults; one sexual contact; six disorderly conduct, improper behavior or fighting incidents; one underage possession or consumption of alcohol; and two trespassing incidents.

Police reported issuing the following citations for violations of local ordinances: 88 for drinking in public; 46 for urinating in public; and one for littering.

The Morristown EMS responded to 24 calls on Saturday, parade day, and 17 of those patients identified themselves as being in town for the parade, according to EMS Capt. Dominick Sandelli.

Of those 17 patients:

• 15 were for alcohol related illness
• 1 was a pediatric spectator injury during the parade
• 1 was a pedestrian struck by a motor vehicle.
• EMS personnel also assisted the Morristown police after an arrest for cleanup.

The volunteer emergency workers were assisted in their coverage by ambulances from Chester, Florham Park, Mendham Boro, Mendham Twp, New Vernon and Randolph.

Figures were not immediately available for last year’s parade aftermath; the 2010 event drew fewer people than usual because weather forced it to be rescheduled after St. Patrick’s Day.

In 2009, there were 18 arrests and 102 summonses on the weekend of the parade. In addition, the local ambulance squad made 26 calls and took 17 people who were “incapacitated” by alcohol to the hospital. The EMS made 13 such trips in 2008, three in 2007, and seven trips both in 2006 and 2005, according to police in 2009.

Arrest figures for prior years are a bit sketchier. According to a Star-Ledger report, in 2008 there were 19 arrests, 33 citations and 9 EMS calls responding to alcohol-related problems on parade weekend.

Police made 11 arrests and wrote 28 tickets on parade weekend of 2008, and arrested 14 people and issued 60 citations in 2007, according to a Daily Record editorial in 2008.

–Kevin Coughlin contributed to this story.

Mendham celebrates Labor Day with annual parade

In an annual Labor Day tradition, Michael Fugueson and Kathy Seabrook hosted breakfast on their wrap-around porch on Mendham’s main thoroughfare for family and friends, who gathered to watch the local parade of Scouts, schools, veterans, area businesses, politicians, sports teams, bands and multiple fire companies. Here are a few photos of the festivities. For more, click here.  

Roundup of MG Memorial Day coverage in Morristown, Morris Plains and Morris Township

Here’s where to find our stories, photos and videos from the Memorial Day weekend in Greater Morristown.  You also can find our coverage of the Morris Plains parade here.

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