Members of the original Patriotic Committee during a planning meeting for Ewing’s first Independence Day parade. Pictured at rear are Joe Lenarski, left, Bill Hillman, Carl Yoder, Tom Murphy, Frank “Red” Tyman, and John Stemler. In from are Jerry Neal, Harry Masterson, and Al Schuster.
Mayor Bert Steinmann and Independence Day parade organizers Harry Masterson and Gen. Robert Dutko worked to make this year’s 50th anniversary celebration a memorable one.
“50 Years of Patriotic Parades” is the theme of Ewing Township’s Independence Day Parade, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the celebration.
This year’s parade will be held on Thursday, July 4, with festivities continuing at a fireworks display on July 6.
The parade kicks off at 10 a.m. at the staging area on Parkside Ave. between Moody Park and Olden Avenue. The parade route runs down Parkside to Parkway Ave. and ends at Ewing High School.
The fireworks, which will be set off at the College of New Jersey along Green Lane, will feature about 10 food vendors, music provided by Masters of Entertainment and rides and activities for the kids. The fireworks will be set off at dark.
The 50th anniversary celebration this year is especially gratifying to the Patriotic Committee’s members, given that several years ago the future of the parade was very much in doubt. In 2010 and 2011 the township eliminated funding for the Independence Day festivities due to budgetary constraints resulting from the recession. Fortunately, at least some of that money has been restored.
Mayor Bert Steinmann said that eliminating funding for the parade was a tough decision.
“I know it upset a lot of people. It wasn’t that I felt that it wasn’t important, though. I always thought it was important to fund it,” Steinmann said.
Gen. Robert Dutko, Patriotic Committee vice chairman, said the committee understood the town’s decision and the members took it upon themselves to find a way generate the money to keep the celebration going.
Undaunted, the committee responded by holding a “Patriots Dinner” in 2010 and 2011 to fund the festivities. The dinners wound up raising about $30,000, Dutko said.
“We knew we had to roll up our sleeves and go out and raise the money to keep this thing going,” Dutko said. “There were a lot of people who said we couldn’t do it. That the economic times wouldn’t allow it. I said, ‘If you say you can’t do it, then it will never get done.’ So we went out and did it.”
“They kept it (the parade) going through that period of time and it pulled the community together,” Steinmann said. “They put a lot of effort in it, and it worked out really well. Certainly I’m proud of that fact that the committee is still going.”
Steinmann pointed out that before the recession the municipality had earmarked as much as $30,000 for the Patriotic Committee and that funding has been partially restored — $7,000 in 2012 and $12,000 this year. He said he felt it was important to restore funding, especially given the fact that this year is the parade’s 50th anniversary.
“Not that Ewing is doing a lot better economically,” Steinmann said. “It’s not to the point where I can say, ‘here’s $50,000 or $100,000.’ We still have to be very cognizant of the fact that we’re in tight times. The Patriotic Committee was always important; it’s just that the funding was a little hairy at one point.”
To raise money this year, the committee sold ads in a program book, the proceeds from which will go towards funding Patriotic Committee events. The book is expected to feature photos from past parades and letters of congratulations.
According to Dutko, the plan is to publish 1,000 copies of the book and hand them out at the parade and also at the fireworks display. The committee was able to fund this year’s festivities through a combination of proceeds from the book, the money from the township, and $12,000 that was left over from 2012.
Patriotic Committee Chairman Harry Masterson, who Dutko jokingly calls “the kingpin” of the parade, is in charge of coordinating the event.
Masterson said that the Independence Day celebration is the culmination of a planning effort by the committee that begins in March, when the parade’s theme is chosen and applications are made for the necessary county and township permits.
The Patriotic Committee was formed in 1965 by Mayor Alfred Schuster with the purpose of promoting patriotism in the community.
Masterson, an original member of the committee, said officials decided that there was a need to create a group that would be comprised of members from civic and patriotic organizations in the town.
“They wanted a group where the mayor could pick up the phone and say, ‘I want this or I want that.’ We’re at the beck and call of the mayor. We’ve been that way for 50 years.”
Masterson, 89, a Ewing resident since 1950, was a PFC in the U.S. Army serving under General George Patton in World War II. An officer with the Ewing Township Police department, Masterson retired as a captain.
In addition to Masterson, who is the only surviving member, the other original members of the committee were Jerry Neal, Mayor Schuster, Joe Lenarski, Bill Hillman, Carl Yoder, Tom Murpy, Frank Tyman, and John Stemler. They represented the police department, civil defense, the town’s three fire companies, the American Legion, and the VFW.
“The first thing we wanted to do was to have a July 4 parade,” Masterson said, adding that they started small. “I think we only had about 25 or 30 units those first few years. Now we’re up to about 140 units marching in the parade.”
Dutko, 77, a Ewing resident since 1957, joined the Patriotic Committee in 1994 and stepped up his volunteer work for the township after he retired from the military in 1996.
A brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force, Dutko served in France during the Berlin Crisis in 1961. He spent a total of 42 years in the military — 18 years enlisted and 24 as an officer.
Steinmann said the town is grateful for the work done by Masterson, Dutko and the rest of the Patriotic Committee, and added that the town is looking for more people who would like to volunteer on the committee.
“We really need to recruit new people and get some new blood in there,” said Steinmann. “These guys are great. They have all the energy and all the ideas in the world, but they’re not going to be around forever. And right now, unfortunately, I don’t see anybody replacing them. If these guys go, or decide tomorrow, ‘this is it for me,’ I don’t know who to turn to.”
As for this year’s parade, the mayor anticipates that it will be the best ever.
“I hope we have good weather. I hope we have a lot of people come out,” Steinmann said. “The fireworks are going to be spectacular. I’ve talked with the fireworks company and there’s going to be a couple of special things that we’ve added to it.”
,
