Charlotte Float Takes First Place Again in Shelburne Parade
by Tom Baginski,
November 3, 2011, page 4.....

Every year it’s a joint venture between the Dentons and Baginskis.
Steve Denton has said for the last 10 years, “If you make it, I’ll pull it.” So every year I come up with an “idea,” and then we make a mad dash for 24-48 hours to make it happen.
This year Ed Sulva, one of my other neighbors, really helped out a ton, working into the wee hours of the morning with me.
This year’s “idea,” just like every year, was to create something fun, colorful and different – plus Halloweenish. So I came up with the idea of taking an old video game (Pac Man) that had ghosts in it and making them come alive and run around while being pursued by a very large (nine foot) Pac Man. Basically, s it all sounded fun, and even though I could creatively imagine it in my head making it come to life was another story.
Unfortunately, this year Mother Nature got the best of us with her wind. The costumes that looked wonderful in my basement all week really didn’t fare too well with the wind. We started out great, but in the end I think only four ghosts were left out of 14. Luckily the large Pac-Man, which was built around and over a four wheeler, also survived the two-mile, hour-long drive/walk.
I did the design. Ed and Tricia Sulva helped with the construction of costumes and Pac-Man. The Dentons plus many friends helped with more construction and, most importantly, transportation, hardware and overall professional logistic skills of what will work and what won’t.
The ghosts, not in any particular order, were: Jenna Baginski, Rosie Oates, Annie Bedell, Shannon Helfman, Amira Silverman, Naomi Burhans, Julie Sulva, Hannah Bernier, Noelle DesLauriers, Morgan Schnell, Jane Servin, Carly Alpert, Maddie Denton and Genevie Lemieux.
It was another year of fun, walking down the middle of the road in Shelburne tossing out tons of candy. What could be more fun in Vermont on a sunny Sunday in October?
The Halloween Parade in Shelburne on October 30 was organized by the Charlotte Shelburne Rotary, and it was its biggest. The Rotary Club’s President Kristine Engstrom, President-Elect Adam Bartsch and Past-President Linda Gilbert carried the Rotary Club banner to lead the parade.