Laurel Festival will be a beautiful celebration

With Memorial Day celebrations a recent memory and this year’s summer shaping up to be a hot and beautiful one, it is time again for our attention to turn to Winsted’s annual Laurel Festival, a celebration of the town’s past, present and future.Happening June 10, 11 and 12, this year’s festival will feature 16 candidates for 2011 Laurel Queen. These young women are among the brightest and most active in the community, and they set an example by participating in this historic event and doing their part to give something back to the community.In the next two weeks, stories about the Laurel Festival will appear in this newspaper and others, talking about past highlights and new developments. The main thrust of the coverage is simple — save the date and make sure you get your tickets to the Laurel Ball on Saturday, June 11, and take some time throughout the weekend to participate in the celebration.This year’s festival can enjoy particularly high spirits, as it follows the quick adoption of a town budget for 2011-12 and is far enough in advance of this year’s municipal elections that local campaigns will not cause a distraction. The political dust has briefly settled, and townspeople have an opportunity to get together and simply enjoy themselves.Winsted’s first major festival of the summer also gives young people in town a reason to get out and see their friends, many of whom will be off to college soon. This year’s Laurel Queen and two runners-up will receive scholarships to help in that endeavor. The scholarships are another time-honored symbol of community pride.Information about the Laurel Festival appears in this newspaper and in our next two issues. Winsted-area residents are encouraged to follow the news and show support as we count down the days until the crowning of the next Laurel Queen.

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