NARROWSBURG, NY — The Narrowsburg Fire Department will hold its annual parade and chicken barbecue on the Fourth of July this year as it has for years and years.

In 2022, following the parade, an old Tusten tradition will return to join it, courtesy of the Tusten Youth Commission (TYC) and the Narrowsburg Chamber of Commerce.

The old…

The Fourth of July festivities in Tusten used to be a much bigger deal than they have been in recent years, said Crystal Weston, TYC member and town clerk.

When she was growing up, the parade was a huge event, Weston remembered. “You saw everybody. You saw all your friends again. It’s like, school season ended, and then, like a week or so later, there’s this huge thing in town.”

After the fire department’s parade, the floats and the parade’s participants and onlookers would continue on to Tusten’s campgrounds for Wayne County Fair-esque rides and hours of festivities.

That died down as times changed. The Narrowsburg School District merged with other county districts to form Sullivan West, relocating the center of gravity for Tusten’s youth away from the town. Fewer families raised their children in Tusten. Concerns about safety were raised, partially against the drinking that occured at the fair.

The parade continued, albeit in subdued form. The fair that accompanied it died out.

…and the old, returned

Weston dreamed of bringing back the fair since she joined the TYC eight years ago.

Those eight years were spent growing the youth commission’s events and building connections in the community, giving that dream a clearer path to reality. Even then, it took a lot of pushing to make it happen.

“Insanity is the word,” said Kelly Agar, town bookkeeper and TYC member. “How many people told us, ‘You can’t pull this off, it’s not going to happen.’ “

The connections the youth commission had built with the Narrowsburg Chamber of Commerce helped make it possible.

Weston and Agar originally joined the chamber as liaisons from the TYC; in following years, they became co-treasurers for the group. The chamber invited the youth commission to Logging Days in 2020, and following the success of that event, it invited the commission back the following year.

The chamber realized that the youth commission’s presence led participants at Logging Days to stay longer, said Weston. The commission got practice holding major events, and considered holding the Fourth of July fair on the Fireman’s Ballfield off DeMauro Lane, the same place as the annual Logging Days.

Once the TYC committed to making the event a reality, the chamber helped fundraise for the rides and the expenses of the fair, helping the commission acquire sponsors and set up a GoFundMe page. The whole event could cost the youth commission $20,000—the chamber participated with its own funding. The youth commission had $10,000 in grants for the year, and it didn’t want to spend more than $2,500 of that funding on this one event.

When the TYC board went to sign the contracts for the rides, someone asked what would happen if it didn’t raise enough money to cover the cost, Weston recalls. “We said, ‘That’s not an option.’”

The commission found itself only a few thousand dollars short of what it needed to fully cover the rides, with a few weeks to go until the event itself.

“The stars have aligned just right, right now,” said Agar. “With this chamber, this town board, [and how Agar and Weston] both work for the town, it’s just fallen into place now where it can come to reality.”

The youth commission feels a lot of weight on its shoulders to ensure the event goes off well. “We want to prove to this community, it can be done safe, and it can be done fun, and bring everybody together,” said Agar.

Safety precautions for the event cover fencing along the river, to protect children from falling in; a designated space for alcohol, to prevent underage drinking; and a host of volunteers to ensure the safety of the event itself.

And ultimately, the goal of the event is to bring back a tradition that can draw families to Narrowsburg and provide a good time for people of all ages to enjoy.

“When you have enough people that are interested and want to do something and want to bring it back, it’s possible,” said Weston.

Correction: An earlier version of this article mis-spelled Crystal Weston's name. This has been corrected as of 1 pm, July 1, 2022.