I watched the end of an era last weekend and didn’t even know it.

It was the final Park Road Parade in West Hartford, CT, after 25 years.  I don’t make going to parades a habit, except for July 4 in Contoocook, New Hampshire, of course, but I went along to this one because granddaughter Margeaux was marching in it with fellow musicians from the Hartt School Community Division of the University of Hartford.

Truth be told, the parade was pretty interesting and diverse, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  In fact, I got so wrapped up in watching the karate school students performing that I almost missed Margeaux’ appearance.  Hence the not-so-great photos of her. She’s behind and to the left of the red-haired violinist in the last photo below.

Another highlight of the event for me was the four fife and drum corps from various parts of the region.  For my Florida friends: it’s a northeast thing, something about an event a long time ago.

The Park Road Parade started in 1999 as a fun way for business owners along the blocks-long commercial strip to celebrate completion of a two-year road construction and neighborhood beautification project.  The mile-long pageant quickly became a popular West Hartford event.

But it’s not easy planning a parade in a state where, according to the local public radio station meteorologist, “the weather changes every minute.”  Just organizing the thing is a year-long volunteer effort and there are too many moving parts to just cancel and reschedule it at the last minute if the weather turns sour.

Covid killed it in 2020 and rain drowned it out in 2022 and 2023, so this was only the second parade in the last four years.  This final year allowed the planners to complete two goals that have been put off by the rains:  The long-delayed honoring of the parade’s founder, Rob Rowlson, then West Hartford Director of Community Services, who died in 2022, and showcasing longtime TV and radio personality Renée DiNino as Grand Marshall, a role she was first cast in back in 2022.

Plans were made long ago for this to be the final year and in future to have several, smaller events for the Park Road community. 

I’d say I’ll miss it, but I’d be fibbing.

Here are some more photos from the day: