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Marge and Mel Cunningham of Monroe have a new
houseguest, sort of. It has a long trunk, a tail and is named, “Spirit” –
the new Barnum Festival elephant mascot.
Actually, the Cunninghams have become caretakers of
the Festival’s fuzzy gray elephant costume, which volunteers wear at most
Barnum events. Around the Cunninghams’ house, you’ll find plenty of Festival
memorabilia. Since 1994, the couple has been involved as volunteers and
Festival board members.
The Cunninghams most recently co-chaired the
Name-The-Elephant Contest, which drew more than 400 entries for the new
Barnum Festival mascot. Since then, Mel jokes that he’s become Spirit’s
caretaker and appears as the elephant’s guide, often wearing a pith helmet
and safari jacket. During the contest that took place from March through
April, the joke around the Festival was the best name for the elephant
should be “Melephant” since Mel was so involved with it.
“We just love working
on the Festival,” said Marge, a literacy coach in the Bridgeport public
school system. “The festival brings people together throughout Fairfield
County. There’s something for everybody. It brings entertainment, fun and
excitement. It makes you feel good about your community.”
The Cunninghams have
served many roles in the Festival and have enjoyed working behind the
scenes. It all began when friends invited them to chaperone the Prince and
Princess contest (for middle school kids, then). They liked it so much they
stayed involved, volunteering to work on the Great Street Parade. The couple
is feverishly involved building and decorating floats for this year’s parade
June 29th. They’ve co-chaired Cabaret Night and worked on the
Parade of Champions (drum and bugle competition). “We enjoy doing it all,”
Mel said. “Whatever it takes to make the Festival a success, Marge and I are
willing to jump in.”
As kids in
Bridgeport, the Cunninghams grew up with the Barnum Festival, which began in
1949 to create community spirit and fun for the Greater Bridgeport area. Mel
remembers watching the Great Street Parade from his grandmother’s house on
Bridgeport’s Park Ave. and enjoying the floats and bands. Mel, vice
president of Banner Systems in Milford, has always enjoyed music and played
an electric guitar as a teenager in one of the leading area rock bands, the
Burgundies. Marge lived on the East Side and always attended Festival events
with her parents. One of her favorites is still seeing the late Bobby Darrin
at the Ballyhoo Show at Hedges Stadium. Marge also was honored as a teacher
and rode on the “Teacher-Of-The-Year” float in the Great Street Parade.
Over the years, the
Cunninghams have involved their entire family, three sons, Kyle, Scott and
Collin. Kyle was involved with the Festival Antique Car Show & Flea Market
and has dressed as the Barnum elephant. Even their extended family have
worked on the Festival. Mel’s sister, Nancy Scerbo and her husband, Bill and
Marge’s sister and husband, Pat and Larry Loux and their kids and her niece
Wendi Ellison are all Festival volunteers.
“As a kid the
Festival was always special to me,” Marge said. “It creates wonderful
memories for kids. We stay in touch with our roots and help to create a fun
atmosphere for the communities involved. As our Ringmaster Len Berger always
says: ‘The Barnum Festival is about celebrating fun, family and traditions.
We believe in that; it’s what has kept us involved all these years.”
The Barnum
Festival is in full swing throughout June. For a listing of events, visit
www.barnumfestival.com or call 367-8495.
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