One day a year on Main Street in Middletown, there are no cars headed to work or school or on errands. Instead, multi-colored tents and people line the sidewalks, there’s a smell of kettle corn and caramel apples in the air, and the only cars in sight are those that are creeping along as part of the parade. Crowds and floats march down the road, in a festival filled with everything from potential queens and kings to the walking dead.
The 31st annual Middletown Heritage Festival was held on Sept. 26, featuring the Middletown High School homecoming court, the MHS Marching Knights, zombies from the MHS drama boosters, and the Dee Buchanan Studio of Dance.
Aniston Morris, MHS sophomore, participated in the zombie walk for the first time. The walk, sponsored by the MHS drama program, features students dressed up as zombies who interact with the crowd watching the parade. The zombies are a way to let people know about the upcoming MHS haunted house. The haunted house, currently being constructed in the MHS auditorium, is a fundraiser for the drama department.
Morris said she enjoys spending time with her friends working toward a worthwhile purpose, but she “made two kids cry, which made me feel really, really bad.”
MHS senior Tommy James is a veteran of the walk, having done it for the past four years. His favorite part is before the actual parade “when everyone shows up to the school and starts cutting up their clothes, applying makeup and putting on blood.”
“It’s fun to be a little destructive sometimes,” he said.
The Dee Buchanan dancers are a staple of the parade and have been for 23 years now. This year, the group danced to “Shake it Off,” by Taylor Swift. MHS senior and Dee Buchanan dancer Anna Russell said, “My favorite thing about dancing at Heritage Days is how it advertises the talented dancers at the studio, and it’s a stress-free performance.”
MHS junior Cole Frigm, a drummer in the MHS band, has participated in the parade since freshman year. Frigm likes watching the crowd enjoy the music and seeing all of his friends and family as he marches through the street.
The heritage festival included colonial reenactments and fundraisers for several MVAA and MHS sports teams.
The festival is an event unique to Middletown and seems to attract a large audience year after year, consisting of both town residents and visitors. The event’s purpose is to look back at the founding of Middletown, but it does so much more than that; it is a time to showcase the town’s residents and their many interests, which include anything from zombies to reenactments.
