KENT – Kent organizers made last-minute changes to the town's Independence Day celebrations due to extreme heat and possible storms, bringing some activities inside and making slight changes to the parade. Fireworks at Lake Waramaug are planned as scheduled.
Members of the town’s USA 250 Subcommittee made the changes during a July 1 after the National Weather Service issued an extreme heat warning. With temperatures expected to reach the low to mid-90s, Gov. Ned Lamont also activated Connecticut's Extreme Hot Weather Protocol on Tuesday, which remains in effect through Sunday.
Friday, July 3
The parade is still set to kick off at Town Hall on Friday, July 3, at 7 p.m. It will finish with a reception at the Kent Volunteer Fire Department with a DJ, dancing and signing of the town’s ceremonial Declaration of Independence.
A planned bonfire has been replaced by the “KVFD Mega Soaker,” courtesy of a Kent Volunteer Fire Department truck, and cold refreshments in the vein of watermelon or popsicles will take the place of smores, which are being saved for a later event. First Selectman Eric Epstein, who is also a volunteer firefighter, said to get ready to get wet: “it’s more than a mister… it’s a soaker.”
Town Clerk and USA 250 Subcommittee member Darlene Brady warned parents to bring towels.
The group will also be providing vehicles and floats so parade participants can hitch a ride than walk through the heat, though they may still walk if they choose.
As of Thursday afternoon, 16 floats had registered, and anyone eager to join can still submit a last-minute request for a holiday-themed float.
Saturday, July 4
All of Saturday’s programming has been moved indoors, save for the raising of the flag which will occur just outside the Community House at noon. The reading of the Declaration, the nationwide bell ringing, and community picnic with concessions and local vendors and activities will take place inside the building until 3 p.m.
Fireworks at Lake Waramaug at dusk are still on schedule for 9:30 p.m., with parking for Kent residents at the shoreside Lake Waramaug State Park.
Widely scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible both days. Brady said that Friday’s parade may still go on in light rain, but that it may have to be halted if safety becomes a concern, as in the event of downpours or lightning.
“We’re hoping mother nature loves a parade!” she said.
Friday, July 3 (Lights & Liberty Community Kickoff):
2 p.m. – community bell ringing at 2 p.m. at the Eric Sloane Museum, 31 Kent Cornwall Road
7 p.m. – Lights and Liberty parade kicks off at Town Hall, ending at the KVFD firehouse for a reception with a DJ, dancing and refreshments
Saturday, July 4 (Celebration on the Town Hall Lawn & Fireworks Finale):
Noon – community signing of town Declaration and flag raising outside the Community House, 93 North Main Street
1 p.m. – Public reading of the Declaration of Independence inside the Community House
2 p.m. – Town-and-nationwide bell ringing
Noon to 3 p.m. – Community picnic, activity tents family programming and food and drink
9 p.m. to end – Rim-the-Lake with Flares followed by fireworks display
A brand new Revolutionary War Memorial featuring 44 known Kent veterans of the fight for independence will be displayed during Friday night's parade and at the flag raising ceremony outside the Community House on the Fourth of July. Alec Linden
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Ralph Fedele sits at a desk in the historic Irondale Schoolhouse, which he led the effort to relocate to downtown Millerton.
Starting in 2015, the building was disassembled and moved — piece-by-piece — thanks to the efforts of a local organization called the Friends of the Irondale Schoolhouse and a Millerton resident that has dedicated much of his life to the community and preserving local landmarks.
That man is Ralph Fedele, a revered figure in the community both for his efforts to restore, maintain and educate people about the former schoolhouse and for more than a decade serving on the North East Town Board.
Fedele moved to Millerton from New York City 37 years ago, in 1988, and has since worn many hats – volunteer, historian, advocate, elected official – yet he still doesn’t believe he’s earned that title.
“I’m a transplant,” he said matter of factly. “I’m from the city.”
Years after settling in Millerton full time, Fedele was driving north on Route 22 when he spotted an old, classic building and couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“It was in dire straits,” he recalled. “Right on the road, but beautiful. I remember thinking, ‘Wouldn’t that be a great building to move into the village?’”
That moment would eventually turn into Fedele’s lasting legacy.
Fedele joked that people may have thought he was crazy during the lengthy restoration. “I was a tyrant,” he said with a laugh. “I really made sure that we were able to get it done.” The effort required coordination with the state, the county, village and town officials, and his newly assembled nonprofit board.
As a self-proclaimed history buff, Fedele didn’t stop at the restoration. He found a list of students in old records and did what any determined historian would do. He opened the telephone book and started making calls.
Eventually, he tracked down one of the schoolhouse’s original students – Mary (Mechare) Leitch – who, at the age of 101, returned to the building after renovations were complete.
“It was a marvelous time,” smiled Fedele. “I was so happy to see her.”
North East Town Supervisor Chris Kennan, left, and Mary Leitch, who was the last living Irondale Schoolhouse student until her death in 2025.Provided
Leitch died on Dec. 24, 2025, at the age of 103.
Leitch was born in Millerton in 1922 and grew up on Winchell Mountain in the hamlet of Irondale. Her early schooling was at Irondale’s 1858 one-room schoolhouse until it closed in 1930. She was proud of having been the last person to attend the school. From the third grade onward, she attended school in the Millerton school district.
“If you sit still, you will rust,” was a favorite Leitch saying, perhaps inspired by the Irondale district and the area’s iron industry.
Leitch delighted in the outdoors and in the company of animals and people, caring for many dogs—especially Jack Russells—and cherishing the horses that were part of her long, vibrant life. An avid sportswoman, she enjoyed deer hunting and fishing, keeping her licenses current right up until her passing. She was a longtime member of both the Jack Russell Club of America and the Dutchess County Professional Horsemen’s Association.
In 1958, she married William “Billy” Leitch of Millbrook, a professional horseman, sharing a love of the sporting life and enjoying active membership in the Millbrook Hunt Club. Billy pre-deceased her in 2015.
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