Orleans parade committee finalizes logistics, approves $600 for volunteer T‑shirts

The Orleans Parade Committee approved up to $600 to purchase roughly 35 volunteer T‑shirts and spent the meeting finalizing staffing, staging and signage for the town’s Fourth of July parade.

The committee’s chair opened the meeting by asking members to approve the May 21 minutes; a motion and second were recorded and the minutes were approved. Committee members then reviewed parade logistics, saying all vendor contracts are set and trucks have been arranged, including a flatbed that will serve as a platform for judges near the police station.

JD Martin offered use of a flatbed after the group decided not to return to last year’s provider following a prior customer-service incident. The committee also confirmed Mike Ford will serve as Grand Marshal and will ride with Tony Pearl in an antique Packard.

The chair said she is finalizing orders for decorations and bins and will follow up with Tom Dervo on timing and vendor paperwork. She reported she has requested an invoice and a W‑9 from Miladdin, the owner of Chattam Valley, for a golf cart rental and will route vendor documents through the town account.

Public-safety planning remains unresolved: the chair said she contacted the Orleans Police Department for a security detail. "Lieutenant McGlaughlin said he doesn't have anyone from OPD," the chair reported, and the lieutenant indicated he would see whether personnel from a neighboring town could assist.

Volunteer recruitment was a major focus. The committee discussed outreach to recurring community helpers such as the Redeemer Church, which has supplied five to 10 volunteers in past years, and to local schools for student cleanup crews. Members agreed to assign specific, limited tasks for youth volunteers — for example, a cleanup crew of six to eight students and separate groups to assist with parking and check‑in — to avoid placing young people in stressful traffic-control duties.

Staging logistics include a four-lane assembly area (bands in lane one, floats in the remaining lanes) and a multi-page map the chair will distribute to registrants and volunteers. Check‑in volunteers will hand out float numbers and clipboards to record entries; those lists will be used by judges to determine awards.

On procurement, the chair said she took inventory of volunteer shirts and estimated about 35 shirts would be needed for the committee and volunteers. The committee voted to authorize spending up to $600 on shirts; the motion was seconded and approved. The chair said the shirts will be ordered through the town account.

Committee members identified several remaining volunteer needs, including one adult to serve with the judges and several people to manage staging and assist Peter Omera, who agreed to reprise his role as parade maestro and to train a successor. Jen Allard will manage upstream float movement on parade day.

The group also discussed temporary sign permits for the South Orleans Rotary and the skate corner, pending a final approval for use of a parking lot for staging. Linda proposed exploring a senior or limited‑mobility seating area in collaboration with the senior center; members agreed the idea merits planning for next year but may be difficult to implement on short notice this year.

Before adjourning, members thanked Ken and Hillary Johnson for their service on the committee and confirmed that, barring last‑minute issues, no additional meeting is required. A motion to adjourn passed and the meeting ended.

Next steps: the chair will circulate the staging map and timeline instructions to registered floats and volunteers and will follow up on outstanding vendor paperwork and the remaining adult volunteer slots for judges and staging.