On May 13th, Brunswick came alive with the culmination of a yearlong collaboration between Spindleworks and Arts Are Elementary. The town’s first ever All Species Parade was a magnificent success, drawing over 500 community members to participate and watch the colorful parade travel down Maine Street. For us at Spindleworks and Arts Are Elementary, we feel the universe shined upon us: the weather was perfect, and we were blessed by a host of volunteers who helped make the day go off without a hitch from start to finish.
Our hope was to take a moment at the beginning of the parade to thank everyone who made this event possible but our megaphone was not cooperating. In lieu we would like make thanks here, and reach even a broader audience than we would have at the parade:
There are so many community members, business partners, and organizations who have made the first All Species Parade a success. Many thanks to…
The Brunswick Police Department for guiding us safely down the highway that is Maine Street, and doing it with a smile; Frank Brockman for the use of his Maine Street window and space for our display and workshops, Steve Howe at Cumberland Storage and Toni Gatti and Waterfront Maine for the use at almost no cost of a storage unit in Fort Andross to store puppets; Cindy and Midcoast Hospital who donated all of the sheets used to create the fleet of eleven beautiful birds; Geoff Hewett at the Times Record for the rounds of chip board which became the body of the caterpillar and other puppets; Jim McCarthy who has worked all year with Spindleworks on their writing and made sure the parade was ever present in the paper; Carrot Signs who donated wonderful materials for our puppets; Nance Parker and Jeanne at Shoestring Theater in Portland who leant us some of their giant street puppets; Figures of Speech in Freeport who leant us the wonderful crow heads to wear; Tim Vail who hoisted our banner over Maine Street for all to see; Paul at Red Dragon Toys who donated a myriad of supplies for our puppet making workshops; Ron Harrity and Evan Parker who designed our website and marketing materials at a fraction of the cost; Al Miller and the Theater Project for working with the second graders to help their birds come alive; all of the second grade students, teachers and volunteers that we worked with this year to create the most colorful flock of birds we have ever seen; Harriet Mosher and Five Rivers Arts Alliance who have supported with materials and marketing for this project and so many arts events in Brunswick; and the Maine Arts Commission who provided two grants that enabled this collaboration to take place, including funds for marketing and the residency which took place this school year.
There are so many individuals who we cannot forget to mention:
Terry Grasse has been working with Spindleworks throughout the year to create masks and costumes, Mildred Johnson, Barb Kay, Rebecca McNulty, Ed McCartan, Lisa Harman, Barbara Kaufman, Karyn Dickey (all those tent poles!!!), Gary Lawless—our fearless Grand Marshal, Michelle Nadeau and Ripley Swan from BHS, Joshua Magno, Elizabeth Compton, Sarah Deck, Andrew Kosack, Cheryl Sleeper, Katherine Harding, Holly Randall, Mary Turner, Darcee Pantaz, the Spindleworks staff (Alyce Ornella, Deirdre Barton, Ryan Walker, Jennifer Benham) and of course the creators of this event who had a little idea last spring…Cathy Worthington and Maureen Block.
With gratitude and awe,
Liz McGhee, Program Manager, Spindleworks
Patty Olds, Executive Director, Arts Are Elementary
