Suffield Fireman's Carnival Wraps Up With Parade and Songs

The last night of the Suffield Fireman’s Carnival started with a parade that included the town's fire department as well as others in the area.

The annual carnival, which wrapped up on Saturday night, has been in operation for over 50 years and is run by the firemen’s association. It was held on the grounds of .

The parade lasted about 20 minutes and included fire departments from East Granby, Windsor Locks, East Windsor, Enfield and Southwick, MA. There was even firefighting equipment from Bradley International Airport and United Technologies.

Bryan and Meghan Chrusciel, of North Granby, came to see the parade for the first time and thought it was great.

Denise Bixby, of East Windsor, enjoyed the old fire trucks that were in the parade.

"It was a nice parade," Richie Ellis, of East Windsor's Warehouse Point, said. "There is nothing wrong with this parade. It cheers up the people."

Ellis, a retired volunteer firefighter, has marched in this parade in the past.

Kate Laporte, who has recently moved to Suffield, said the parade was "incredible."

Laporte said the carnival was her first community experience in Suffield after only being in town two weeks.

Carnival attendees were able to eat standard (and enjoyable) carnival food like chicken tenders and fried dough. Along with the food, there were midway games, bingo, rides and face painting. Throughout the carnival, the sounds of laughter were floating on the air.

This year’s carnival featured a new music stage, which was operated by the Around Town Singers.

There was a performance by the Around Town Singers’ popular group, ATExpress and a jazz group, The Human Race.

ATExpress is made up of three 11-year-old singers, Isabella Pinto, Bella Hastings and Roci Ackerman. They started their performance by singing the national anthem. The group even had six audience members come up on stage and sang the chorus to "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)," a song made popular by Cher, while they were singing.

There were technical difficulties during the group’s performance, but it didn’t stop them. They kept on singing without the use microphones.

"They did a great job even when the sound went out," Megan Hastings, of Suffield, said. "It was a perfect night for this."

Doriana Vicedomini, of Suffield, said the girls were very talented.

Charlie Kuzontkoski, of Suffield, thought ATExpress was good. He thinks other big events in the area should consider hosting the group.

Krysta Voskowsky, an assistant director at the Around Town Singers who handles all the children productions and many other activities in the organization, sung the Patsy Cline song "Crazy."