The parade starts at Birchland Park Middle School and ends at East Longmeadow High School.
EAST LONGMEADOW- More than 40 years ago Dick Ruest and his wife Jaqui Ruest met at a parade in Westfield and they have been together ever since. The Ludlow couple watched the East Longmeadow 4th of July Parade seated on lawn chairs on Mapleshade Avenue Monday.
“We really enjoy the parade. It’s a fun time with the family and they do a great job
with it,” he said.
Nicolo Scibelli, 4 and Katherine Wright, 5, both of East Longmeadow watched eagerly as
the fire department walked the parade route.
Wright said her favorite part was getting candy.
“I like the bands and the firemen,” Scibelli said.
East Longmeadow Board of Selectmen members James D. Driscoll, Enrico J. Villamaino and Paul Federici marched the parade route.
“It’s one of the only times in the year when everyone in town gets to come together and have a good time,” Villamaino said.
Driscoll has been attending the parade since he was a child.
“It’s a great town tradition,” he said of the parade which includes hundreds of participants and thousands of spectators.
Many local organizations like the always popular Melha Shriners participated in the event.
East Longmeadow High School created a float in honor of the 50th anniversary of the school with a 7-foot decorative cake.
Judy Lelas-George has a home on Maple Street which she decorates with signs reading the names of local soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her son is currently deployed in Iraq.
“They are just signs to let them know we appreciate them and are thinking of them,” she said.
Brothers Brandon and Anthony Smith, of Palmer, waited in anticipation for the police
cruisers, fire trucks and the many bands that performed in the parade.
“It’s a really good parade. It’s fun to see all the floats and the bands,” said Brandon Smith, 9.
“We come every year,” said Anthony Smith, 11, who greeted the firemen as they walked by.