TREATING ‘COOKIE’ TO BIRTHDAY PARADE
Norman Melanson turns 95
LEOMINSTER » The mood was celebratory and joyful despite the chill in the air at a surprise drive-by birthday parade on Saturday in honor of lifelong resident Norman “Cookie” Melanson turning 95.
Melanson, a World War II Navy hero, was delighted by the turnout, which was evident by his reaction.
“He was blown away by the parade, full cascade of tears and joy,” said his niece Carolyn Goulet, who helped to organize the fete and took him to Foxwoods for the day immediately following it to continue the celebration.
Several city vehicles including police, fire and emergency management led the parade of nearly three dozen vehicles.
“It was overwhelming,” Goulet said.
The parade kicked off at Our
Lady of the Lake Church on Main Street, which Melanson attends, turned onto Route 13, right onto King Street, right onto Norwood Avenue, and left onto Stuart Avenue, past Melanson’s house where he sat in his driveway soaking in the revelry.
“It was a cold, snowy morning warmed with the cheer and festive spirit of the many people who participated in the parade,” Goulet said. “When Cookie heard the first horns honking up the hill of Stuart Avenue he began crying. From his front stoop he basked in the warmth of the smiles and waves of family, friends and city associates he has been unable to hug or meet with face-to-face for nearly one year. He was truly honored and blown away.”
Goulet said the parade was a joint effort by herself, a number of family, friends and neighbors, Leominster Emergency Management, Rick Voutour and Larry McNeil from Leominster Veterans Affairs, director of the International Veterans Chorus Fran Cooley, and Lisa Sciacca, formerly of Our Lady of the Lake Church.
“At the ripe age of 95, Uncle Cookie is pre-deceased by all but one sibling, his wife, who would have turned 90 last weekend, their two adopted sons, many inlaws, friends and even one grandson,” Goulet said. “Having said goodbye to many others in his life he often wonders aloud why they have been taken and he is still left. It was important for me to help demonstrate for him that one of the important reasons he is still here is because of the many people who honor, cherish and love him.”
Melanson was born in Leominster and grew up in French Hill during the Great Depression, the second of 10 children including triplets who passed away at 3K months old and a sister who died in her 20s. His mother was a homemaker and his father worked at the Yarn Mill in Fitchburg.
“He was pulled out of school during the ninth grade to work and earn money for the family,” Goulet said.
Soon after the passing of his triplet siblings, the four remaining boys in the family enlisted in the military one by one — three including Melanson joined the Navy and one joined the Army.
“Cookie was the only one to be deployed during World War II and spent his service stationed in the South Pacific as part of the amphibious forces of the Navy,” Goulet said. “He was on the LST 570, a land tank loading ship that carried hundreds of Sherman tanks, marine forces, etc. to the battles of the South Pacific.”
The nickname Cookie stuck after he returned from the Navy where he was a cook and a gunner’s mate. He met his late wife Tina while working as a cook in a restaurant after being honorably discharged from the military. The couple married in 1950 and adopted two boys, Gregory, who died at age 10 from leukemia, and John, who died in 2017 at 57.
According to Goulet, Melanson was never able to finish his education and finally earned his GED after he was married. He retired at age 70 after 23 years as an assessor for the City of Leominster, having previously been an assessor in Nashua, N.H., and other areas.
“He loved the ability to study home and commercial construction as part of the revaluation function of his career,” Goulet said. “It was a job that took him to many nooks and crannies of the state.”
Before his assessor career he was a long-haul driver for Atlas Distributors, regularly driving trailer trucks from New York to New Jersey.
Goulet is one of Melanson’s five god children.
“Uncle Cookie is a shining star in my life, a model of selfless love, humility and giving and the kind of person I try to emulate in my life,” she said. “Many others say the same. He and my Aunt Tina, his sweetheart of nearly 75 years, have always been like the rudder to everyone else’s boat — supportive without expectation, giving without condition, and loving without judgement.”
Goulet said she is grateful to everyone who participated in the parade and showed up to shower her beloved uncle with well wishes.
“It was immensely satisfying for Uncle Cookie to see the demonstration of love for him as a person and to feel the support of the community and his circle of family and friends,” she said. “It felt like a huge, warm hug for him. Thank you, thank you, thank you for helping to make his day extra special.”