Sun shines on Waterbury’s NQID celebration
July 17, 2025 | By Lisa Scagliotti and Gordon MillerThe Not Quite Independence Day Parade makes its way up Main Street in Waterbury on Saturday, June 28. Photo by Gordon Miller
The two-year streak of rain on Waterbury’s parade was broken this year as the 2025 Not Quite Independence Day parade, the Green Mountain Mile footrace, block party and fireworks enjoyed sunshine and clear skies after morning showers blew by.
Parade-goers got an early start, setting down chairs along Main Street and cordoning off parking spaces in front of various homes along the parade route.
At 3:45 p.m. sharp with Main Street closed, the 16th running of the Green Mountain Mile footrace took off from the Ice Center with some 159 runners from age 5 to 59 making their way up Main Street in bright sunshine.
Vince Wing finished in first place in the Green Mountain Mile. Photo by Gordon Miller
Fifteen-year-old Vincent Wing crossed first in 5:09.2 minutes.
Within 20 min., the last runners had crossed the finish line set up on Main Street at Stowe Street.
Last to cross were Cullen Graves, 7, just ahead of Neal Graves, 42, fishing in 14:46 minutes, a tenth of a second apart.
Organizers led by Brookside Primary School teacher and coach Tom Thurston clocked the results, now posted online on webscorer.
With lollipops at the finish line for runners, the annual race is a fundraiser to support the Nordic ski program at Brookside Primary School.
Green Mountain Mile - On the course
At the finish line
Slideshow from the finish line at Waterbury's Green Mountain Mile footrace just ahead of the Not Quite Independence Day parade on June 28, 2025. Photos by Lisa Scagliotti
As the finish line gate was lifted up and carried off the street, the parade was already moving along South Main Street, led by the American Legion Color Guard.
Marshals this year were P. Howard “Skip” Flanders and his wife Cathy Flanders. They rode at the head of the parade in the back seat of a classic 1957 Pontiac Star Chief Catalina hardtop driven by owner Tony Cote of Morrisville. Retired now from the U.S. Post Office, Cote is familiar to many in Waterbury from his years delivering mail in the village. Cote is a U.S. Marine veteran and accompanying him in the front passenger seat was friend and fellow Vietnam veteran, Mike Fitzgerald.
The Flanders shared a note of thanks and appreciation to the Waterbury Rotary for the honor of serving as parade grand marshals: “It was a wonderful experience seeing all the people along the parade, we especially enjoyed being chauffeured Tony Cote, Waterbury’s longtime mailman in his 1975 Pontiac Star Chief. It has been our pleasure to have grown up in the community, to live in Waterbury, and to serve our community alongside so many of you. Community service with love and kindness is what makes Waterbury a wonderful place for all. Thank you for the honor of serving as the Grand Marshals.”
Parade Grand Marshals Cathy and Skip Flanders ride in a 1957 Pontiac Star Chief driven by owner and former Waterbury mail carrier Tony Cote of Morrisville. Photo by Gordon Miller
The parade theme of “Vermont Weather” leaned into the uncertainty of planning a big outdoor event in the summertime after 2023 and 2024 NQID celebrations went on through steady rain with fireworks getting postponed to the following night.
Many of the groups entered in the parade ran with the theme for their floats, costumes, music and more. There were multiple umbrellas as props in several groups’ choreographed dances; snow and ice featured in the youth hockey entry; the Tiny Acorn toy store embraced the theme with their unique “toy-nado” cyclone.
Parade Awards
Several Rotarians from other Vermont communities assisted Waterbury Rotary Club members with the parade judging. As the block party and concert got underway at Rusty Parker Park, Rotarian Jeff Smith, during an early break, shared the award results. Click the photos of the winners below to enlarge and see captions.
At Rusty Parker Park, the band 4Play played classic rock tunes as the crowd filled in to play games, visit food and beverage vendors and await the fireworks show. A crowd gathered in the far corner of the park at a dunk tank set up as a Rotary fundraiser. Many attendees (predominantly youngsters) lined up to take turns paying $5 for several throws.
They dunked local luminaries starting with Brookside Primary School Co-Principal Chris Neville and including others such as state Rep. Tom Stevens, Harwood School Board member Corey Hackett and Rotary President/Waterbury Select Board member Tori Taravella, Waterbury Common Market Manager Sara Whitehair and Revitializing Waterbury Director/Select Board member Roger Clapp. (Brookside Principal Neville gets an unofficial NQID spirit shoutout for his dunk tank appearance after running the Green Mt. Mile in a gorilla suit.)
The party continued until nightfall, when the crowd shifted to the State Office Complex for the fireworks show.
A youngster nails the toss for the first of several dunks for Brookside Primary School Co-Principal Chris Neville at the NQID block party.
Below, the fireworks show is launched behind the State Office Complex with a bright moon adding to the scene. Photos by Lisa Scagliotti
