Southington Finalizes Apple Harvest Festival Leadership Team

SOUTHINGTON, CT — Eight months away, the town's biggest civic celebration officially has its organizational team in place following the Southington Town Council's recent action last month.

In three separate votes on Jan. 22, the council unanimously approved contracts for the Southington Apple Harvest Festival's coordinator, assistant coordinator, and sponsorship coordinator.

All three roles are paid, part-time positions.

Councilman Christopher Palmieri, also of the festival committee, told council colleagues the committee went out to bid and sought either one- or two-year contracts.

Ultimately, the committee recommended and the full council approved hiring:

• Southington resident David A. Lapreay, festival coordinator, $25,000 a year for 2024 and 2025.

Palmieri said this was up from the prior pay of $18,500, with funding for all staffers coming from the festival budget, not the town budget.

• Bristol resident Lara Nichols, assistant festival coordinator, $7,500 a year for 2024 and 2025.

This is up from $5,000 during the past year, Palmieri said.

• Southington-based "A Balanced Life LLC," a marketing consultant firm led by Melissa Cocuzza for a 25 percent commission on sponsorships for only 2024.

"She not paid a flat rate. Hers is commission-based," Palmieri said, adding she will get a $5,000 advance, with that amount coming from her commission pay.

Councilman Michael Del Santo said he always looks forward to the event and is hopeful the new team in place will continue that tradition as well.

"These are two of my favorite weekends of the year," Councilman Michael Del Santo said. "The Apple Harvest Festival runs like a well-oiled machine no matter who ran it, but we know for certain that Mr. Lapreay can do it and Miss Nichols can do it. We need to continue that."

The 2024 festival will take place over two weekends, Friday to Sunday, Oct. 4-6 and Oct. 11-13, dates recently finalized by the festival committee.

"Those of you from Southington know, we always end with Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day weekend," Palmieri said.

Considered Southington's biggest community event, the Apple Harvest Festival takes place every fall and regularly brings in more than 100,000 people total for one of the state's larger tourist events.

It takes place in and around the historic Southington Town Green and features food, entertainment, carnival rides, vendors, and, of course, apples.

For more information on the Southington Apple Harvest Festival, click on this link.

For the minutes of the Jan. 22 Southington Town Council meeting, including contract documents, click on his link.