A Day for the History Books

When Peter Hill and I were asked to co-chair the parade on behalf of the 350th Committee, we were excited but a little nervous. Neither of us had ever planned anything this big before, and we are both not native to Suffield, though we have both lived here for almost 20 years. Right away we started to do our research. We watched old footage of the 300th parade, taking notes on every float that was traveling down the road; the bands, the tractors and especially all the amazing participants and we got started. With the help of some amazing volunteers and town employees, we began flooding the Town website with applications and questionnaires to make sure that we were doing all that we could to honor our beloved Town of Suffield.

Now that the road closures are done, and the confetti has settled, we want to THANK EVERYONE who came out to celebrate with us and who made this day possible – from the Suffield Public Works and Public Safety departments, to the ever-enthusiastic leadership of First Selectman Melissa Mack To all the amazing teachers and students at Suffield Public Schools, to the volunteers shuffling floats, busses and participants around that morning, we THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. This day could not have been as fantastic as it was without everyone’s participation and help along the way.

We received a message from a long-time Suffield resident later Saturday. It said that the day had “lived up to her childhood memories, and she was able to imagine it again through a child’s eyes.” That response was exactly what we were hoping to hear. After a long year and a half of being separated, we wanted everyone to be able to feel like a child again and to be proud of this beautiful town that we live in. We move on to the 351st year knowing that we did our best to honor the place we call home and that for a small part of everyone’s day on Saturday October 9, 2021, they could smile a little and know that they are part of an amazing community we call Suffield, Connecticut.