Not Quite Independence Day meets ‘American Time Machine’
July 3, 2026 | By Otis Roessler | Community News ServiceFireworks set off near the State Office Complex close out Waterbury’s 2026 Not Quite Independence Day celebration on Saturday, June 27. Photo by Gordon Miller
For the second year in a row, Waterbury residents and visitors alike enjoyed a sunny summer afternoon for the Not Quite Independence Day celebration on Saturday.
In typical fashion, people claimed their favorite vantage spots along the parade route, setting up their chairs along Main Street hours before the main event began.
This year, ahead of the NQID festivities organized by the Waterbury Rotary Club, the Waterbury Train Station drew a crowd for its Train Day event coordinated by Revitalizing Waterbury and the Waterbury Historical Society along with the Champlain Valley Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.
The presentations and exhibits featuring working model trains honored Waterbury’s railroad history. A highlight was a miniature train on wheels from Northeast Kingdom Express that gave rides through the downtown and stayed into the afternoon to participate in the NQID parade.
Shortly before 4 p.m., runners young and old embarked on the Green Mountain Mile fun run. This year’s competition was one of the largest in the run’s 17-year history, with 229 competitors, according to race organizers.
Runners young and old tackle the final hill of the Green Mountain Mile fun run. Photo by Gordon Miller
Top three Green Mountain Mile finishers: Sava Leitner (right), Matthew Toborg (center), Jacob Rye. See full results and more photos in SPORTS here. Photo by Gordon Miller
Harwood Union Middle School eighth grader Sava Leitner was the first to cross the finish line with a time of 5:36 min., edging out Matthew Toborg (5:41) by just five seconds; Jacob Rye took third place, finishing in 5:45 min.
“I was doing what I was born to do,” Sava said after claiming victory. The win and time were particularly noteworthy compared with last year, when Sava finished in a solid fifth place with a time of 5:51.3.
Billed as a mostly flat one-mile course along South Main Street, the closing climb up Bank Hill to the Stowe Street finish challenges runners young and old.
At 4:07 p.m., the final racers crossed the finish line. After 16 minutes, 22 seconds, on the course, William Wright carried his daughter Vivienne to paydirt.
The one-mile footrace is a fundraiser for the Nordic ski program at Brookside Primary School. Organizers did not yet have a final tally, but estimated that it raised over $1,300 this year.
Spectators line Main Street for the Not Quite Independence Day parade on Saturday, June 27. Photo by Gordon Miller
Five minutes later, the parade came rumbling down Main Street, headed by the American Legion Color Guard. After brief pauses to fire ceremonial shots, the parade continued with the American Legion Post 59’s award-winning float, featuring historic military uniforms. The group would go on to win “Most Patriotic” honors during the post-parade award ceremony.
Right behind the legion’s entry was this year's grand marshal, Gordy Wood, dressed as George Washington crossing the Winooski — not the Delaware — River. Wood, a lifelong Waterbury resident whose family has been in the area for 10 generations, rode in a boat attached to a pick-up truck in full colonial army regalia.
Gordy Wood leans into the American Time Machine history theme of this year’s parade. Photo by Gordon Miller
Due to his deep Waterbury roots and his G.W. initials, Rotary Club members organizing the parade thought he would be a fitting grand marshal for this year’s “American Time Machine” theme that encouraged participants to assemble entries with a connection to some historic event in the past 250 years. Parade entries were lined up in historical order from colonial times to the modern era, acknowledging the nation’s 250th anniversary this year.
“It’s great to see the community get together,” Wood said. “We’re not fighting about politics or some other deal.”
But politics did make an appearance nonetheless. With 2026 being an election year, numerous political candidates and organizers marched in groups or entered floats in this year’s parade. The Washington County Republicans, supporting state Senate candidates Christopher Neddo, Peter Schmeeckle and Rob LaClair, had a float. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Aly Richards and a group of supporters walked along, as well as longtime Democratic Washington County state Sen. Ann Cummings, Sen. Anne Watson, and first-time Democratic House candidate Katarina Lisaius, who is running to represent Waterbury.
A tiny model of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his car sits atop the Waterbury Dam parade entry from the Rotary Club. Photo by Gwenna Peters
The Waterbury Rotary Club, meanwhile, created a float to honor the chapter’s 90th anniversary. The club formed in 1936, the same year that then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited town to inspect construction of the Waterbury Dam. Board memberDan McKibben and fellow Rotarians made their float look like the dam, including a disproportionately sized art-deco gatehouse on top. The structure was made of plywood and took half a day to construct, McKibben said.
Later, McKibben helped announce the winning float displays. “Best Use of Theme” was awarded to the Stowe Street Emporium, whose group dressed in period clothing spanning from 1910 to 1990. The “Best in Parade Overall” went to St. Andrew’s Catholic Church, which created a church replica to commemorate the parish’s 150th anniversary.
Other Rotary parade awards were:
Best Antique Vehicle to the Waterbury Fire Department’s Seth Warner Engine Co. for its antique pumper and the crew who hauled it the length of Main Street, including the climb up Bank Hill.
Most Fun to the Woodard Farm with farmer/filmmaker/author George Woodard on an antique baling machine.
Most Patriotic Award to the aforementioned American Legion members.
Best Kids entry to Bourne’s Energy for their colorful “future” inspired float.
With so many entries, there weren’t enough awards to go around. Though he went unawarded, an English bulldog named George Washington charmed the crowd as he passed by in the back of a decorated pickup truck. The chill canine belongs to Rob and Stacey DiBlasi, who reside in Waterbury Center. They named their new pet after George Washington University, having gotten him when their son left to attend the school.
In addition to FDR and George Washington, the parade included a shoutout to one more U.S. president, Calvin Coolidge, who Vermont Republicans honored with their 1920s-inspired float and costumes.
Brookside Primary School Co-Principal Chris Neville is first in the dunk tank. Video by Lisa Scagliotti
Following the parade, the crowd gathered in Rusty Parker Park for entertainment and refreshments. Vermonter and touring blues rocker Dave Keller provided a soulful centerpiece for the block party. Partygoers enjoyed food and beverages from local vendors that lined the park’s perimeter. A bouncy house anchored one corner along Main Street with a line of eager youngsters waiting their turn, while another line formed at the opposite end of the park at the dunk tank.
While the music played on, a large group, consisting mostly of children, gathered to try their skill tossing balls at the target. For the low price of $5, anyone could get three shots to dunk a prominent local figure. Up first was Brookside Primary School Co-Principal Chris Neville, a dunk tank veteran and willing participant. He lingered on the hot seat, being dunked countless times by multiple pupils.
Waterbury Select Board members Roger Clapp and Evan Hoffman, Bridgeside Books owner Katya d’Angelo, Rotary Club Co-President Hayden Jones, and Concentric Fitness personal trainer Joey Clark all sacrificed their comfort by courageously taking turns in the tank. Their efforts contributed to the Rotary’s fundraising for the day’s events.
As the sun began to set, partygoers shifted from the park to spots on the lawn at the State Office Complex and along Main Street for a view of the fireworks display launched from Randall Meadow by the Winooski River.
Photos by Gordon Miller
Fireworks finale at Waterbury’s Not Quite Independence Day celebration on Saturday, June 27. Video by Lisa Scagliotti
Community News Service is a University of Vermont journalism internship reporting stories for Vermont news outlets, including the Waterbury Roundabout.