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The
volunteers make the Barnum Festival go. Without them,
there would be no Festival, which ranks among the
longest consecutive running event of its type in the
country, starting in 1949.
The
2004 Festival chalked up another successful season
because of hundreds of volunteers who committed their
time. But the Festival Board of Directors named two
outstanding volunteers for 2004 ? Barbara Bellinger of
Bridgeport and Bob Tranzillo of Monroe.
Tranzillo
served as the Parade Chairman overseeing more than 60
volunteers who worked in organizing and planning the
Festival?s Great Street Parade. It was more of a
challenge this year because of the change in the parade
route and switching parade day from Sunday to Saturday.
As
usual, the parade went off without a hitch, drawing more
than 75,000 spectators along the route that started at
Capital Ave. and Main St. and finished at the Ballpark
at Harbor Yard.
?I
accepted the award on behalf of all the members of the
Parade Committee,? Tranzillo said. ?They all did a great
job. They are the unsung heroes of the parade.?
Tranzillo put in hundreds of hours meeting with groups
and city boards to organize the parade and get the new
route approved. His wife, Marge, handled the
administrative work for the Parade Committee. He has
also served on Festival Board of Directors for the last
five years as assistant treasurer. In 2003, Tranzillo
was named the Grand Marshall and Parade Chairman and
rode on a float with his wife and several family
members.
The
Tranzillos grew up with the Festival, both he and his
wife attended the first Barnum Festival in 1949. They
are both long-term volunteers and looking forward to
helping the new Ringmaster make the 5 Festival a
success. Tranzillo works as Controller for the Public
Works Department for the Town of Trumbull where several
of his co-workers have assisted him on the parade during
the last seven years.
Bellinger became part of the Festival family in 1988
when her daughter Melanie Jackson was named the Festival
Queen as a junior at Central Magnet High School.
Bellinger?s older daughter, Monique Jackson works for
the Royal Bank of Scotland and also has been a judge for
the Festival King and Queen Competition.
Vice
President of Employee Development Programs at People?s
Bank, Corporate University, Bellinger has held several
posts for the Festival. She and her late husband,
George, chaired the Festival?s King and Queen
competition for two years, reorganizing the format and
the judging criteria. In addition, she has served as an
executive aide for Ringmaster Fred Biebel and most
recently the 2004 Ringmaster Peter Hurst.
?Being
named a Volunteer of the Year was great. It meant that
my efforts to make the Festival a success were
appreciated. I have always been a cheerleader for the
Festival and plan to continue to do so as long as I?m
needed. This award means a great deal to me.?
Bellinger
has fond memories of the Festival, in particular when
she and her late husband, George, hosted the
Ringmaster?s breakfast on the lawn of their home on the
day of the Great Street Parade. What Bellinger likes
about the Festival is how it draws diverse parts of the
Bridgeport community together.
In
2004, she was proud of the Festival?s role in the
Celebrate Bridgeport Festivities downtown, which brought
together members of the City of Bridgeport, Rotary,
Leadership Greater Bridgeport and the Festival. The
Festivities received a Splash Award from the Coastal
Fairfield County Convention and Visitors Bureau. As an
executive aide for Hurst, she generated new ideas for
his reign and served as a troubleshooter and community
liaison.
After
the 2004 Festival ended, Bellinger underwent surgery and
is fully recuperated back at her job and ready to jump
back into the Festival. Being a cheerleader for the
Festival, her work is never done.
?The
goal is to leave the Festival a little better than you
found it,? Bellinger said. ?There?s always something to
change or improve. This year, we got new people involved
as co-chairs of events and built a pool of supporters.
No one person can do it all. We want people to catch the
spirit of collaboration so the Festival will live on.?
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