Newfane residents celebrated the second anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene Sunday with a parade through the town’s two hardest hit villages.
Fire Trucks, floats, and tractors, pulling pe-schoolers and moms, followed a brass band through the covered bridge between Williamsville and South Newfane.
After the flood two years ago, the three mile parade route along the Rock River was a wasteland of shattered houses and uprooted trees.
South Newfane resident Christine Triebert organized the first Rock River Revival Parade in 2012. She says she hopes to keep the tradition going.
“Our goal,” Triebert says, “Is every year on the last Sunday in August to throw a big street parade, get everybody together and celebrate the fact that we all survived. It’s also show our incredible appreciation to the fire department, because those guys were really heroes on the day of the storm.”
Triebert says local firefighters went house to house as the floodwaters rose, warning residents to get out.
Triebert says that while some people are still struggling, she believes the community is stronger and more connected than before the storm.
