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Those marketing hopeful blockbuster movies are referring to the warm months of 2023 as the summer of nostalgia.

That label well suits at least one in-person local event to be held 10 a.m. Tuesday.

The 60th Annual Country Club Estates July 4th Parade is certain to bring back memories of summers gone by. The annual neighborhood gathering has attracted community members as well as residents to its sometimes quirky, always patriotic, celebration of the nation’s birth.

The founder of the parade was Nancy Stuckwish, the wife of Ken Stuckwish, Jr., who relocated his family from St. Louis when he accepted the position of CFO at Berkline Corporation.

According to information passed down, or lore, the parade was a tradition in the Stuckwish family’s neighborhood back in St. Louis. At the time of their arrival in Morristown, the family included three children. Nancy approached her new neighbors and said, “Hey, let’s throw a Fourth of July parade.”

Although some details of the parade have been lost along the way, there is an album with photographs that are described as dating back to those early, formative days.

Longtime neighborhood residents, including children who grew up on the streets of Country Club Estates, left to live their adult lives and have either moved back or visit regularly, agree that 2023 marks the 60th year of the celebration.

The agreement was reached after painstaking research – flipping through the pages of the album and consulting vintage parade route flyers.

The 2023 parade is open to community members, and as of press time, may include at least one mayor to provide the ceremonial recognition of the six decades of unique costumes and feats of skill, such as baton-throwing and horseback riding.

“When we grew up, the kids moved off, obviously,” neighborhood resident Don Sheneman said. “The parade was maintained by a couple of people, that I don’t know, until Janet Hofer – who lives on Collins Street – she took over the organization role and did that for a while, a decade, probably.

During the time that Hofer was organizing the event, Sheneman would visit his mother’s house and bring his children. The ending spot moved around a bit and It was sometimes a challenge for Hofer to find someone to provide the cookies and Kool-Aid, which was a tradition for the parade end.

The parade starts down at the intersection of Andy and Collins streets and commences up the hill. Over time, an escort by the Morristown Police Department was added. Then volunteer rescue squad members and paramedics, various volunteer fire departments and the Morristown Fire Department joined in.

“And then Danny Case, because of Nancy’s involvement or just because he’s an all-around great guy, added the 1919 fire engine – Morristown’s First Fire Truck,” Sheehan said. “He gives rides to people before and after the parade.”

“They are fun!” Thelma, Don’s wife, said.

“Because Janet was doing all the work, I said, ‘Well, look, I’ll come back from Memphis and I’ll host the thing.’ That’s pretty easy. You just need an address; everybody knows what to do,” Don said. “Then, when I moved here permanently eight years ago, Janet said, ‘Here you go; you’re the organizer now.’”

Don has been pleasantly surprised at the level of cooperation he has received from the various organizations that supply their vehicles and personnel to the parade.

“To the credit of Morristown still being a prime example of small town America, I barely have to get confirmation from the police or whoever is on the list to call. Every answer is, ‘Yes, we’ll be there. Yes, we know what we’re doing,’” Don said.

There are approximatly 60 houses included in the parade range, although not all of them are technically inside Country Club Estates.

Residents include those who live on Shockley Avenue, North Masengill Avenue and Collins Street, which connects those two streetsand extends toward, but not through, the Austin’s farm (the strawberry farm on Economy) and dead-ends there. Collins Street also extends to the ‘new’ road, Andy Street, which dead-ends into the Masengill Springs/Masengill Falls development, and extends to Economy. So between Andy and Economy and Economy and Shockley, there are houses along Economy, including George McGuffin’s home and there are a couple of other houses that were built in the 1960s.

The hopes are that for the 2023 parade, former residents and even those who are by all accounts just loosely connected to the neighborhood will come to participate in or serve as spectators of the 60th celebration.

As of press time, no live marching band had signed up to walk the parade route. That’s always been understandable, since most school band members are on summer respite.

These days, Don’s Bluetooth speaker provides the music.

“I just act like a ringleader to keep our tradition going, rather than let it fall by the wayside,” Don said.

Maybe half of the kids involved in the parade have homes elsewhere, but have a close connection to the neighborhood as grandchildren or other relatives of residents.

Over the years, in addition to first responders and other officials, parade entries have included horses, costumes of all types, the baton-throwers, the Masengill-McCrary auction truck, complete with loudspeakers, along with members of former organizations like the Four Seasons Garden Club. If July 4th happened to fall on a Sunday, the parade was moved to Monday.

The parade is comprehensive in its effort to be both fun and appropriate to the holiday.

In 2020, three of the participants read parts of the Preamble to the Constitution as an addition to the traditional program of the Pledge of Allegiance, prayer, recognition of new residents and the presentation of an American flag to the individual or family most recently having moved in.

For more information about the parade, call 901-356-5161.