Despite pandemic, some July Fourth events still on
Planning an event for Independence Day weekend in a pandemic, at least for one local organization, happened because it couldn’t plan an event for Memorial Day in a pandemic.
The Nichols Improvement Association normally raises a flag on Nichols Green on Memorial Day and honors Trumbull veterans. The coronavirus squashed those plans, especially with some veterans in a suscep
tible age group.
“We’re going to do that Veterans Day,” association president Nate Moyer said, “but we were thinking (an additional idea) would be something nice to do for the town.”
They ran it by town officials and first responders and got the OK, so on Sunday morning at 9, the group will lower the flag that flies now, dedicate it to first responders and victims of the pandemic and give it to the town for historic preservation, Moyer said.
“We usually do a lot of family events,” he said, “and we haven’t been able to do that.
“We want to recognize first responders. Everyone has said ‘they’re great,’ but we haven’t had a chance to tell them in person.”
Spacing people out on Nichols Green is a given, and there should be room for Sunday’s flag rededication. First responders will likely be by their emergency vehicles.
“They don’t want fire, police, EMTs really close to each other,” Moyer said. “I wouldn’t have thought of that.”
Boy Scouts will lower and fold the flag. It’ll be presented to the town to honor first responders and those in town who have died in the pandemic.
Moyer said Trumbull Community Television is looking into streaming the event.
Fairs, fireworks and other public events have been called off this year for health reasons, but a few will still go on this weekend. Face masks and social distancing, unlike years past, are givens this time around as they have been for almost four months.
Stamford Downtown Special Services District will put on a rare-this-year fireworks display from the Landmark Tower on Saturday at 9 p.m. Gathering to watch the show is discouraged, and the DSSD urged residents to watch the show from their own homes or while dining at downtown restaurants.
Some clubs and organizations are hosting cookouts or barbecues.
The Scandinavian Club in Fairfield had to cancel events in March, April and May. The club came together to organize blood drives, but revenues from renting out the banquet hall and a smaller room had disappeared. It surveyed its members to see if it should host a Midsummer celebration on June 20.
“Most people in the club are in their 60s or older. We have about 100 members, and it skews older,” vice president Peter Bjorknas said. “The board was concerned; would people come out? ... One person who called said ‘we need this.’”
Though some members said they weren’t thrilled wearing masks, the club still got 50 people (they were expecting around 25, Bjorknas said) to come out, masked up and wearing gloves in the kitchen, for a three-course meal, tables six feet apart outdoors. To avoid cash handling, a credit-card option went up on the club’s website.
The group was planning a more casual get-together Friday night, “4th on the 3rd,” still social-distanced, and they’re hoping to raise some money to make up for the lost rentals. The event is only open to members and their guests because of state guidelines,
Trumbull, Stamford and Winsted are among local towns that will have public readings of the Declaration of Independence on Saturday.
Trumbull, in association with Trumbull Arts Festival, will host a reading at Town Hall at 10 a.m. for the ninth year, with some readers in colonial costume. “Bring your flags and a chair,” the town’s website says.
In Stamford, it’ll be the second year in a row at the Stamford History Center on High Ridge Road, also at 10 a.m. “Masks and social distancing will be expected, and as we will not be serving refreshments, please bring your own water, coffee or tea,” the event’s Facebook page said.
Winsted’s event is at 3 p.m. at the Soldiers’ Monument and Memorial Park. The building won’t be open because of window renovations, says a note on the town website, but the park grounds will be open for picnics.
Some events aren’t entirely gone this year. Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library usually holds a public reading of the Declaration and of Frederick Douglass’ 1852 “What, to the American Slave, is your Fourth of July?” speech delivered in Rochester, N.Y. This year, they’ve been read in YouTube videos available through the library’s website, beinecke.library.yale.edu.
The Norwalk Historical Society will take its Independence Day Bell-Ringing ceremony online, too, “as it tolls the Town House bell 13 times to commemorate the founding of the original 13 colonies,” its Facebook page says.
Other events are still going on, just tweaked a bit. The New Fairfield Lions Club will hold its usual July 4 Car Parade. The day begins with a flag ceremony and a pipe and drum band at Memorial Field at 8:30 a.m., with the parade to follow at 9. The event will also stream on Facebook Live, and there will be prizes for the best house decoration and the best spectator photo, the club’s Facebook page says. Cars must preregister to take part.
Many local restaurants and clubs have live music this weekend, too, as they do on many normal weekends.
Among the other parties and picnics seen on Facebook in the area were a Saturday picnic and pig roast at the Stratford Boat Owners Association, an all-weekend Fourth of July Weekend Cookout at the Connecticut Small Game Club in Bridgeport presented by Tours of Soul Entertainment, a barbecue Saturday night at The Patterson Club in Fairfield, and a substance-free pig roast presented by Glorious Recovery in West Haven.
The guidelines for the latter on the event’s Facebook page, for instance, included masks and social distancing, registration beforehand, a temperature check on arrival and a waiver. There would, however, be hand sanitizer and bleach wipes available.