Grand Marshal Selected For Park Road Parade In West Hartford

WEST HARTFORD, CT — Patti Albee, founder of the "Neighbors and Friends in West Hartford" Facebook page, was selected as the 2019 Grand Marshal for the 21st Park Road Parade on Saturday, Oct. 5.

Earlier this summer, the Park Road Association surveyed the community for ‘unsung heroes’ to serve as the Grand Marshal. Albee was selected from a field of 18 nominees.

“For the first time in the parade’s 21-year history, we opened up the selection process to the community on who will lead the annual Park Road Parade,” said Tracy Flater, co-chair, Park Road Association and co-founder of Playhouse on Park.

“Unlike the usual Grand Marshal criteria of being a prominent, highly visible individual, we wanted to honor West Hartford’s unsung heroes who are quietly serving the community from behind the scenes,” said John Paindiris, co-chair, Park Road Association and owner of Effie’s Restaurant.

“I nominated Patti because she literally works full time on the Neighbors and Friends West Hartford site and receives no income for her efforts,” said John Lyons. “Patti launched the Facebook page several years ago and today it has grown to over 15,000 members who rely on it for information and news about our town. The web page provides a host of other helpful services too.”

“I started Neighbors and Friends in West Hartford in June 2012 when my dad’s house was broken into. When I posted on my personal page, I realized that there were other homes that had been broken into also. I wanted a way to share information quickly, so started Neighbors and Friends in West Hartford,” Albee said.

Today, the site has 16,700 followers and new people are continually added.

“We usually add about 150 new members a month and have about 1,800 posts a month. That’s a lot of information being shared,” she said.

Albee is a lifelong resident of West Hartford and a big fan of the Park Road Parade.

“I was born and raised in West Hartford. I actually now live three houses around the corner from where I grew up on South Highland Street and have been on Warrenton Avenue now for 26 years,” she said.

She and Scott, her husband of 27 years, raised their four children, Ashleigh, Bryan, Justin and Kylie, here. Her only sister Meg also lives in West Hartford.

“I love the Park Road Parade. I went to the very first one in 1998. I was so surprised and honored to be selected as this year’s Grand Marshal,” she said.

The Park Road Parade features over 70 contingents ranging from marching bands to dogs in tutus, from cultural organizations and Shriners driving mini fire trucks. Anything goes!

The parade organizers encourage creativity and award groups that stand out from the rest. Awards are given each year to Best Float, Best Overall Performance, Best Costume, Best Musical Performance, and Best Community Spirit.

The 2019 sponsors are Effie's Place Family Restaurant, LAZ Parking, Open Arms Christian Ministries, AT&T, Shop Rite, Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union, West Hartford Travel Basketball, West Hartford Police Association, Joey’s Pizza Pie, Mr. Sparkle Car Wash, Pond House Café, Body & Sole Day Spa, Turnpike Motors Autobody, Coursey & Coursey Public Affairs Communications, Essence Health, Molloy Funeral Home, Liberty Bank, Lovely Real Estate dba Newport Realty Group, Northwestern Mutual, Udolf Properties, and United Bank.

The 21st Park Road Parade begins at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5. For more information, please call Renée McCue at 860-561-7521 or Tony Landino at 860-966-4582, or visit www.ParkRoadCT.com/events.

Story courtesy of Town of West Hartford