TERRYVILLE-Television personality Ted Knight will arrive in Plymouth Thursday accompanied by his business manager and public relations director, according to Bicentennial Committee chairman J. Francis Ryan.
Knight, who is a native of Terryville, will stay in town until Sunday. Friday he will be in Hartford, while on Saturday he will visit the Lock Museum of America. He is honorary chairman for the nationwide fund drive for a new Lock Museum building. He will view the floats on Orchard Street, where judging will be taking place.
The television personality will ride in the parade, set to begin at 2 p.m., and will travel to the end of the parade route.
He then will be escorted by local police through an alternate route to be on the judging stand in Baldwin Park for the finals of the town's beard contest. There are 20 entries in this contest.
At 7 p.m. Saturday, Knight will be honored at a testimonial by the committee and town with more than 500 people expected to attend. He will be seated at the head table along with George Cyr, state coordinator of the Bicentennial Commission, and Cyr's wife, and Major George Ford. Ford is a member of Governor Ella Grasso's Military Commission and is also a former resident of Terryville.
A total of 35 floats will pass the parade route, Edwin Chmieleski parade chairman announced this week. All floats will be lined up on Orchard Street by 10 a.m., with judging of the vehicles slated for 10:30 a.m. Small floats which will also be accompanied by marching units will be able to follow their units after the judging is completed and the prizes awarded.
There will be C.B. units stationed on the major highways leading into town Saturday which will be identified by a sign reading "parade information" for anyone needing help as to what division to report to, where to line up, etc. These units will be in constant touch with the parade coordinator. The parade will begin at Harwinton Avenue and West Main Street and proceed down West Main Street. At Orchard floats will be inserted at intervals. The parade will then continue down Main Street with floats removed at North Riverside Avenue, while the remainder of the parade continues to Town Hall, where it will disperse at the rear of the building. All buses, trucks and marchers' vehicles will park in the rear of the East Main Street School across from Town Hall.
Other units to be judged during the parade include: Firemen, best all around and oldest piece of apparatus; Color Guards, junior, senior and veterans, best all around; and Drum Corps, best appearing junior, best appearing senior, and best appearing modern and ancient.
The parade will include more than 2,000 persons in the line of march, and by an estimate of the Connecticut Bicentennial Journal, a crowd of 45,000 is expected to watch the march.
[The Bristol Press, Tuesday, June 8, 1976]