Tom notes that Stowe’s Old Fashioned Fourth of July has a special claim to fame: it’s the only Independence Day celebration with two separate parades. The Moscow Parade, a short and quirky affair that prides itself on its lack of organization, kicks off at 10am. The only requirement for participation is that floats cannot be assembled earlier than the morning of the parade or cost more than $10 to create. One of the few constants of the Moscow parade is the Ladies Lawn Chair Brigade, which performs synchronized steps using folding lawn chairs.
Everybody Loves a Parade While the Moscow Parade is a wonderful tradition, some businesses in Stowe Village felt left out of the celebration. Tom and others on the Stowe Vibrancy Events Committee decided to add a celebration with live music, food, and entertainment from 11am-3pm in the village. The event was a hit but it was still missing the customary parade, so three years ago Tom began planning a downtown parade. He was able to leverage Stowe’s 250th anniversary into a procession. “It was a huge success,” he says, “so we did it again last year and we’ll continue to do it.” Each year Tom likes to add new events to the celebration. This year that attraction will be a booth where visitors can design and paint custom T-shirts. Last year’s addition was a pie-eating contest dreamed up by Trudy Trombley, vice president of Stowe Vibrancy. “It drew quite a crowd,” Tom says. “It went on for three hours including elimination rounds.” Trudy says she had no trouble coming up with the idea. One of the fondest memories from her youth was the local pie-eating contest. “And it was exactly the way I remembered it,” she
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