First responders set to parade through city

Schenectady seeks to spread cheer in spite of pandemic

Three months after COVID -19 forced the city to cancel its hugely popular holiday parade, a group of first responders is making plans to spread some Christmas cheer.

The inaugural Schenectady First Responder parade, which will feature about a dozen vehicles from various public safety agencies, is set to step off at 6 p.m. Tuesday near Fire Station #1 on Veeder Avenue and make its way through the city with holiday tunes old and new, according to Assistant Fire Chief Don Mareno.

He said all the emergency vehicles will be festively adorned with Christmas decorations and lights.

“I want as many people as possible to see this and if it makes one little kid happy, it’ll be worth it,” said Mareno who came up with the idea for the parade. “Just maybe it will bring a little joy and sense of normalcy at a time when things are anything but normal.”

The city police department, county sheriff ’s office, Mohawk Ambulance as well as Schenectady Department of Public Works (DPW) staffers will take part in the parade.

Mayor Gary Mccarthy and other city officials are expected to be part of the procession through the different neighborhoods, which Mareno said is being mapped out by Schenectady-based Transfinder.

The company’s GPS tracking technology, which the city uses to track snow plows, will allow city residents to see in real-time when the parade is getting closer to their neighborhood by logging into paradefinder.com.

Mayor Mccarthy said in a statement that he was happy to have a live parade make its way through the different sections of the Electric City.

“Everyone loves a parade and having our first responders visiting all corners of Schenectady is very special,” Mccarthy stated.

Depending on how many spectators the parade attracts, Mareno said they expect to cover the city in between 90 minutes to 2 hours.

He’s hoping for nice weather and searching for a convertible so Santa can ride in comfort while still being able to greet everyone.

Meantime, the Schenectady Fire Department for a few hours on Saturday will host its second annual “Stuff the Truck” event at two city fire stations.

The need is greater this year more than ever because many of the businesses who gave last year are not participating this time around because they have been adversely impacted by the coronavirus crisis.

Stuff the Truck, which is being jointly sponsored with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve’s Toys for Tots program, will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

People can drop off new, unwrapped toys from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Station 2, 1515 State St., and Station 1,360 Veeder Ave.