Sunday, September 23, 2012 10:50 PM EDT
BRISTOL ? Although this year?s official 51st Annual Chrysanthemum Festival theme was ?Mum Festival Community Working Together? ? if anyone attending Sunday?s parade had to guess it, they?d probably report back balloon-mania.
Orbs of all colors and sizes bounced along downtown ? most pretty low in the sky since they belonged to pint-sized parade go-ers.
Because it?s the first year in quite a while that the famous Balloons over Bristol returned to the grounds of Mum Fest, everyone had balloons on the mind.
To the disappointment of early-risers, the much-anticipated Sunday morning launch deflated with the high winds and questionable weather. Nine hot air balloons and their riders sat for two hours waiting for the air to calm, but it didn?t ? at least not until after noontime when the Mum Parade made its way down Memorial Boulevard.
The Mum Fest Committee wasn?t going to let the day pass without any sort of balloon fun, however. They spent the morning blowing up thousands of the hand-held version, which were distributed to participants of all kinds ? from the kids on parade floats to the many families watching their procession from the sidelines.
And many, there were.
?People start lining up their chairs in their favorite spots at 8 a.m. in the morning,? said Bristol resident Linda Russell, a member of the Mum Fest Committee for the last 22 years, author of ?Bristol Business and Industry? and Mum Fest Chairperson four times over the years.
Russell is one of the few people who can well-articulate why the chrysanthemum is the city?s sanctioned flower.
It all started back in the early 1900s when Bristol Nursery on Chippens Hill had its heyday. Fields and fields of golden mums graced the hill, with the nursery?s unique varieties never again replicable.
?They used to go around to flower shows and won all kinds of awards,? Russell explained.
At Sunday?s parade, mums were even more common than balloons. They covered truck beds of parade floats, clothing and stacks sat behind the main stage where parade officials judged the passing lineup, which included police and firemen, schools, local elected officials, nonprofits, businesses and notable city residents.
One of these attendees was Edith Pesino, 91.
Bristol?s very first war bride, Pesino joined the Order Sons of Italy in America club in the procession, as her great-grandchildren Lauren and Sean Rock, 3 and 9, anxiously awaited her passing on the Boulevard.
Next up on the 2012 Mum Fest program: the 43rd Running of Bristol?s Mum-a-Thon next Saturday, Sept. 29, starting and finishing at St. Immanuel Lutheran School. Then a few weeks later on Saturday, Oct. 6, Mum Bingo arrives at St. Ann?s Church.
For more information on the 51st Annual Chrysanthemum Festival activities, visit BristolMumFestival.org.
Erica Schmitt can be reached at (860) 225-4601, ext. 210, or eschmitt@newbritainherald.com.
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Source: http://www.bristolpress.com/articles/2012/09/23/news/doc505fc8b94bd52759729685.txt
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