Moonbounces and other rubbery, bouncy things were heavily used by children for Saturday’s Middletown Day. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)
By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
To the casual observer, Middletown Day was another Middletown Day music, firetrucks on display, bouncy houses that echo the joyous shrieks of children.
But for a while there, a tough budget season dictated there wasn’t going to be a Middletown Day this year.
A little rallying, though, resurrected the annual tradition before it had a chance to be completely scratched from the calendar.
Faced with scrapping the yearly event because the town couldn’t afford it, committeewoman Pamela Brightbill rounded up a group of volunteers to seek donations to support Middletown Day 2010.
The scramble worked, and Saturday, hundreds turned out to Croydon Hall for the usual offerings, including the firetrucks and bouncy houses.
And Middletown Day would not be as fulfilling without them.
For Brian Law, 8, there is no better reason to show up than to hang around with the firefighters.
“That’s where he spends most of his time,” his mother, Tina Law said.
Sisters Isabel and Lauren Postelnek spent some tire there, too, taking a ride up the truck’s ladder to get a bird’s-eye view of what was going on.
“It was really cool,” Lauren said. “You go really high and it’s much windier.”
The Postelneks come every year to Middletown Day, but unlike Brian, this was their first experience on a firetruck. It’s added to their list of favorites now.
“We love the firetruck and the bouncy houses,” Isabel said.
