BIG FISH The Trout Parade’s mascot, an articulated puppet created 18 years ago by the late artist Bud Wertheim, is processed down Main Street at the start of this year’s “Trouter Space”-theme event. Manor Ink photo
Fin fans explore Manor’s astro surf
By Manor Ink Staff
It was three years ago, on Saturday, June 8, 2019, that thousands of Sullivan County residents and visitors crowded Main Street in Livingston Manor to witness the hamlet’s fifteenth annual piscatory promenade – its renowned Trout Parade. Then, eight months later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The 2020 and ’21 parades had to be cancelled.
FISH FOUNDERS Trout Parade originators, Gerard Illaria, left and Steve Wilkinson, pose in regalia for a fan prior to the parade. They put together the first event back in 2004. Manor Ink photo
But that was then, and today the situation is different. With over 60 percent of the county’s population vaccinated and CDC recommendations eased, large public gatherings are no longer the concern they once were. Accordingly, the Livingston Manor Chamber of Commerce and Calliope-on-Main, a local nonprofit organization that promotes music and the arts, decided to go ahead with this year’s Trout Parade.
The second Saturday in June was selected as the date for the town-wide celebration, and organizers got busy recruiting marchers, soliciting vendors, planning events and – most importantly – coming up with a parade theme. In keeping with the cosmic scale of the day-long fete, the clever sobriquet “Trouter Space” was chosen.
Festivities got underway at 11 a.m., with food and refreshments served up by the Catskill Brewery’s food truck parked in the Green Space on Main Street, and a variety of vendors and organizations manning tables in the municipal parking at the Pearl Street intersection. Down the street at the Manor Firehouse, firefighters prepared savory barbecued chicken, and they quickly sold out.
Shortly before noon, officers with the county Sheriff’s Dept. blocked off Main Street at Rock Avenue and Creamery Road, and then, at 1 p.m., the parade began. “Oooh, mommy, here they come!” one little girl was heard to shout.
“When so many people come together to just have a great time, and support local businesses, and support art and just celebrate all that I think it’s a very good thing!”
In the Trouter Space Parade were dignitaries, including Grand Marshal James Karpowitz and NY Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther. Cadence music was provided by the Green Machine, LMCS’s marching band, and Hartford’s Proud Drill, Drum and Dance Corps, as well as by several truckloads of space alien rockers. Organizations included the Livingston Manor Free Library, the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum and Manor Rotary. Giant marchers included the fanciful mannequins of Oneonta’s Catskill Puppet Theater, and bringing up the rear of the procession were a few of the hamlet’s bright red fire and rescue vehicles, sirens blaring.
Following the parade, festivities continued in shops and eateries around town, and officially at Sunshine Colony and the Catskill Brewery, where food and refreshments were served. The town was packed to the gills for the event, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the gala return of one of Livingston Manor’s favorite traditions.
Reporters Angel Martinez and Nevaeh Roberts contributed to this story.
Scenes from Livingston Manor’s Trouter Space invasion
Pictures taken by Manor Ink’s roving photographer.
