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07/03/2024 08:30 AMLeslie Barlow didn’t have her moment last Fourth of July. She and her husband Cotty were slated to be the grand marshals of the Ivoryton Independence Day Parade, except that there was no parade, as it was cancelled by rain.
So, Leslie’s moment will come at this year’s Ivoryton Independence Day Parade. The parade, traveling along Main Street in Ivoryton, steps off from Walnut Street at 10 a.m. and goes past the Ivoryton Green, then turns around, and the whole assemblage marches back.
The parade includes not only marchers, but it also features bicycle riders, antique cars, an occasional tractor, and a ceremony at the Ivoryton Green.
Essex First Selectman Norm Needleman will make a few “very brief remarks,” he said.
Norm Rutty, in appropriate colonial garb, will read excerpts from the Declaration of Independence. The New Horizons Band of the Community Music School, under the direction of Patricia Hurley, will play a selection of music, including The Stars and Stripes Forever and several more of the best-known John Philip Sousa marches.
Laura Copland, as she has for the past several years, will act as master of ceremonies. To perform The Star-Spangled Banner, if all goes according to plan, the Ivoryton Parade will have a singer whose voice has been heard on opera stages throughout the world in bass-baritone David Pittsinger, a longtime local resident. Pittsinger is a graduate of The Morgan School in Clinton and the University of Connecticut.
Leslie’s list of community activities is extensive. She has been president of the Essex Land Trust, president of the Ivoryton Library Board, and is now on the board for the third time.
“I love books,” she says, adding that she is a member of two book discussion groups.
Leslie ran the Ivoryton Library house tour fundraiser five times and is thinking of doing another one. She has served a mentor at Essex Elementary School, and she is an usher at the Ivoryton Playhouse.
She is an enthusiastic grandmother to Effie, 3, the daughter of Samantha, who is Leslie’s daughter. Leslie, an avid gardener, loves to work in the garden with Effie when visiting with her family from Waterford.
Leslie has long had her own successful photography business, although she is a self-taught photographer.
“I’ve been taking pictures since I was quite young,” she says.
Leslie thinks that her earliest equipment may have been the classic starter Brownie camera, but now, she uses exclusively Nikon.
“The best lenses,” she explains.
Throughout her professional career, Leslie has made a specialty of photographing weddings and family groups. She particularly likes working in outdoor settings.
“I met the nicest people taking pictures,” she says.
Leslie, who grew up in West Hartford, met Cotty, from New Jersey, when a sailing trip brought him to Essex.
“I meant to go to Europe,” Cotty says,
Somehow, after meeting Leslie, he never got there. The couple are about to celebrate their 50th anniversary in September, but they are still uncertain about where they want to celebrate. Their honeymoon was in Nova Scotia.
Leslie says that, “We’ve been in Maine for the last 35 years,” celebrating their anniversary, but for this special occasion, she is favoring a cruise.
“It’s so relaxing. Lots of people our own age,” she says.
The Fourth of July Parade is coordinated by the Ivoryton Alliance, and Cotty gives special mention to Lorraine Donovan of Ivoryton for her involvement in organizing the day. This is the 17th parade the group has put on, but there were several times when the event was cancelled due to rain and, in recent years, COVID.
Marching groups will include the Junior Ancients Fife & Drummers, the Ivoryton Library, the Ivoryton Playhouse, the Essex Fire Department, the Essex Ambulance Association, the Essex Garden Club, the Essex Historical Society, and the Essex Land Trust.
There will be classic vehicles, and riders are encouraged to decorate their bicycles to follow along the line of march.
Cotty notes that a once-popular addition to the parade will not be present.
“Remember when we had that miniature pig,” he recalls.
Whatever the pig’s ultimate fate, it has not been around for several years. Dogs marching with their owners are welcome as long as they are leashed.
Leslie and Cotty will ride at the front as grand marshals. Cotty plans to be decked out for the occasion in what he describes as appropriate Fourth of July gear: white pants, a bow tie, and a blue blazer. At the time Leslie talked with a reporter, she was less definite.
“I have not decided yet,” she admits.
The Ivoryton Independence Day Parade steps off on Thursday, July 4 at 10 a.m. on Main Street in Ivoryton. Ceremonies and a band concert will follow on the Ivoryton Green. Children on non-motorized bicycles and participants on foot should gather at the corner of Walnut and Main streets in Ivoryton at 9:30 a.m. Marchers with animals on leashes are welcome. Vehicles should meet at the old Pratt Read Factory on Cheney Street at 9:30 a.m.