Thanks to all who reimagined River of Light for 2020
December 10, 2020 | By MK Monley
River of Light lead organizers at the entrance to Waterbury's Dac Rowe Park. "Brave Little State" was the theme for this year's drive-through event, adapted for the pandemic. Left to right: Mame McKee, Sarah-Lee Terrat, MK Monley and Don Schneider. Courtesy photo.
The Reimagined River of Light Lantern “Parade” 2020 would not have been possible without the support of our sponsors and volunteers. This year we thank The Alchemist, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Cafe, the Thatcher Brook Primary School PTO, the Harwood Union Unified School District, and Revitalizing Waterbury. Key members of the planning team included Mame McKee, Sarah-Lee Terrat, and Don Schneider who helped reimagine how we might hold this event during the pandemic.
Nora McDonough, Alex Morse, and Heather VonTrapp are the HUUSD art teachers who dove into this project, having never done this before all while being new teachers to their schools this year. And let’s not forget we are teaching during a pandemic. Hats off to them for offering this up to the students and families in their communities. Jen Campbell, art teacher at Rumney, is a veteran lantern maker who included her students and helped organize the event at Red Hen Bakery with lead organizer from Camp Meade, Mike Pelcher. Thank you all!
My colleagues at TBPS taught lantern making to the majority of the students while I focused on 4th grade only. So to Carol Baitz, Nancy Robinson, Rebecca Chartrand, Lizzy Carlson, Nancy Daigle, and Laura Standard, thank you! Waterbury Recreation Director, Nick Nadeau, helped with logistics. Roger Clapp led the Winterfest crew in decorating the Winooski Street Bridge and helping with the traffic flow at the park.
Setting up for the event would not have been possible without the countless volunteers including school staff, parents, community members, MakerSphere board members, and the HUHS National Honor Society students - a dozen strong. We could not have pulled this off without you. It was through hours and hours of hard work that these volunteers were able to help us pull this off.
To the lantern makers everywhere, Bravo! You did it. You added your lanterns and light to the rivers of light that were flowing and blowing in the breeze. Your art warmed peoples’ hearts and brought tears of joy to many who viewed the displays. Community art is important because it offers us a time to participate in the collective act of art making. And, by adding your lanterns to the River of Light, you added light and joy to your community during the pandemic.
We chose the theme Brave Little State because we knew that things would be hard during this pandemic. That being said, we had no idea they would be this hard. On Nov. 13, when Gov. Scott gave the order that getting together with members outside of your immediate household was prohibited, I wondered if even holding the event would be possible. With safety precautions in place and encouraging words from our health professionals, we persevered and are so glad that we did. This is something we all needed for our own mental health.
What I missed this year was seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces when the parade passed the spectators. But I also missed being able to gather with our lantern crew at the end of the event to share a meal and talk about how the event went. We did meet briefly at the entrance to Dac Rowe for a photo op of this years’ planning team. We took a few photos and went on our way knowing how important it was to find a way for all of us to be together apart.
MK Monley is Thatcher Brook Primary School’s art teacher and a lead organizer of Waterbury’s annual River of Light parade.