Josh Nodine and his family, with some law enforcement friends, in front of their State St. home.
I was honored to participate in a very special birthday celebration yesterday.
Josh Nodine was supposed to be leaving yesterday — his 12th birthday — on a Dream Factory trip to Orlando. Thanks to the coronavirus, however, that trip had to be put on hold. So his mother Jamie tried to come up with something else that would make the day special for him.
That something was a parade. She explained her idea on her Facebook post here:
We were supposed to be leaving for Josh’s Dream Factory Trip on his birthday. His dream was to fly on an airplane and ride roller coasters at Disney World. Since that trip won’t be happening when we planned, we need something else to brighten Joshua’s birthday! Josh loves cars and trucks. He loves motorcycles and emergency vehicles. He loves buses and garbage trucks. He loves anything with an engine! He loves to wave and have people wave back. So we want to create a “parade” for him! Drive by our house and wave to Josh on his birthday! We will be in the driveway, rain or shine, watching and waving back.
The invitation was originally designed just for family and friends. But word started to spread, so much that the Sheriff’s Department was called in for traffic control, and both Webster and West Webster fire departments brought trucks.
A steady rainfall clearly did not deter anyone from coming out for the celebration. Josh, his mother Jamie, father Ben and brother Caleb were all set up by 12:30 under a tent in their driveway of their State Rd. home. The fire trucks started the parade a little before 1 p.m., lights blaring, and before it was all over (about a half hour later) more than 170 cars and trucks had passed, every one of them with people hanging out their windows, yelling their birthday wishes.
What was especially charming is that many of the families and friends who streamed by had made signs, attached balloons to their cars, blew bubbles and played kazoos. In one car, a boy was playing Happy Birthday on a saxophone. A few folks even tossed gifts out their windows (one lady assuring Jamie that “I bubble-wrapped it!”).
The delight on Josh’s face was heart-warming as he watched his friends, teachers and students from Klem South (his current school), Schlegel Rd. (his former school) and complete strangers stream by, every single one of them offering birthday wishes.
Josh often sits outside his home waving to passing cars, even on a normal day, so keep an eye out for him. And it’s never too late to wish him a happy birthday.
Here are several photos of the event, and make sure to check out my Webster on the Web Facebook page for a video of the entire parade!
There was a lot of media representation there yesterday, so you can read more of this story here:
webster on the web 
A very cool thing for a very cool kid! Love from Mrs. Sweetland 🙂