CLAREMONT — After a year’s hiatus, the Stevens High Alumni Parade is back to celebrate its 150th anniversary.
The parade kicks off at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, and festivities continue throughout the day. The first parade was held in 1871.
“This one is actually falling on the right year,” parade chairman Dick Girard said of the 150th anniversary.
The parade is typically held on the second Saturday in June. It was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and scheduled for October this year. That means some of the alumni from recently graduated classes aren’t able to participate because they’re away at college.
“I was hoping it would be a bit bigger, and in June it would have been,” Girard said. But plans to overhaul Pleasant Street, along with the continuing pandemic, got in the way of that timing, he said.
However, the construction on Pleasant Street got off to a late start and is still ongoing. That means the parade route is slightly different this year. It still begins on Broad Street and goes to South Street before continuing to Pleasant Street. At that point, it will turn left on Summer Street to avoid the construction zone. Then it goes right on Pearl Street and another right on Central Street. It turns right onto Main Street and then continues back to Broad Street, creating a loop.
“The parade is going to be a little bit larger than normal years,” Girard, who graduated from Stevens High in 1961, said. “There’s plenty of places to view it.”
The corners around of Summer and Pleasant streets, as well as Summer and Pearl streets, are going to be the tightest right turns for the trucks and trailers. Girard is asking spectators to avoid those corners to help the drivers.
“It will be a big help,” he said.
There are 57 entries in this year’s parade. Among the classes contributing floats are 1955, 1956, 1961, 1964, 1970, 1970 (St. Mary’s High School), 1980, 1981, 1990, 1996, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2015, 2020 and River Valley Community College, according to a news release from the Stevens Alumni Association. The class of 2021 will not have a float. When the parade is held in June, that year’s graduating class usually has a float.
“That’s a little bit discouraging, but this COVID has thrown a monkey wrench into a lot of stuff,” Girard said.
Bands participating include: Stevens High School Band, Claremont Middle School Band, St. Andrews Band, New Hampshire Police Association Pipe Band, Boston Windjammers, Son’s of Italy, Colchester Continental Fife and Drum Corps, Firehouse 6 Dixieland Band, Backwoods Ax Co. Band, Catamount Pipe Band, and The Civil War Hemlocks. Leapin’ Lena — the jumping car that has appeared in parades throughout the Upper Valley — will also be there.
After the parade, the alumni association will hold its annual meeting and luncheon. A chili cook-off will take place from noon to 4 p.m. at the Visitors Center on North Street.
“I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of people I haven’t seen for a while,” Girard said. “Over the years I’ve made friends in a lot of the classes so I’m looking forward to seeing them again.”
Editor’s note: For more information, visit stevensalumninh.com. Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
