NormsMilfordBlog

This afternoon, right around what passes for a “rush hour” in Milford the local Little League baseball teams held their annual march down Main Street. I’m sure most of the people who were scurrying along trying to get home at the end of the week didn’t appreciate it as much as those who participated and those of use lucky enough to live here.

The only way this scene could have been quainter would have been if Sherriff Andy had been leading the parade in his police car and Deputy Fife was directing traffic, while Aunt Bea handed out cookies. Were Norman Rockwell still alive this would be a Saturday Evening Post cover painting for sure.

We have lots of parades and events in Milford that close down Main Street for a few hours, almost one event or -parade a month throughout the year. In addition to our big street festival – Milford Memories – which takes place in August; we have three major parades – the Memorial Day Parade in May, which honors our military men and women; the Independence Day Parade, which usually takes place on the 4th of July and celebrates the birth of our country; and then there’s that  Christmas Parade, which is on the weekend after Thanksgiving.

There are also the minor parades and events, like, the big, summer downtown shopping event – Summer Palooza.  In the late summer Milford also hosts the Milford Criterion (aka. the Milford Crit), which is a sanctioned bicycle street race that takes place down Main street and around a course that closes off several other streets. In the fall there’s the Homecoming Parade for Milford High School. All summer long, starting in May there is a Farmers Market on Liberty Street, just off Main Street, every Thursday evening.

Then there is the Milford Car Show in September that closes all of Main Street and Central Park. Of course we also have an event downtown for the kids at Halloween called the Boo Bash, where the local merchants stand in their doorways and give out candy – got to close Main Street for that.

So you can see why our Department of Public Works (DPW) and the local police have become quite good at the exercise of closing off Main Street for whatever event is going on. I suppose the people who pass through Milford everyday aren’t really all that surprised when they encounter the detour signs – they know something in happening in Milford on Main Street and that’s a good thing. That’s what makes it Milford.