The Barrington Town Council voted 5-0 to hire an event planner to run this year’s Memorial Day Parade.

At a meeting on March 4, the Council approved a $5,000 expenditure from its Contingency Fund to pay for an expert to plan and coordinate the annual parade. 

Barrington Town Manager Phil Hervey said Col. Paul Dulchinos has played a key role in organizing the parade in the past, but is not able to do so this year. 

The town organized the parade in 2022, and partnered with the BUVC last year. 

“When we ran it internally a couple years ago, it took all of our time,” Hervey said. 

For years, the Barrington United Veterans Council had planned out and coordinated the parade, but in March 2022, members of the Council voted to remove the BUVC from those duties and instead instructed the Town Manager and an appointed committee to run the parade. 

A year after running the parade, Hervey shared a memo with the Council stating that the event was a success “but it did require a lot of staff and volunteer time.” 

At that time, Hervey asked if the Council wanted to continue with a town-run parade or return the duties back to the Barrington United Veterans Council. At a meeting in Feb. 2023, the Council voted 3-1 to have the Town Manager collaborate with the BUVC in organizing the parade. 

That appeared to work last year, but in a recent memo to the Council, Hervey wrote that Col. Dulchinos has notified the town he will be “stepping down from his role this year.”

“We are planning to continue working with the Barrington United Veterans Council but given that Mr. Dulchinos took on many of the tasks, additional support is needed,” Hervey wrote. 

During the March 4 meeting, Council member Annelise Conway said that if the town is going to pay for an event planner to run the parade, then the planning committee should include members of various town committees as they see fit. She specifically mentioned the town’s DEI Committee.

Amy Goins, the assistant town solicitor, suggested the Council either form a committee to help with the parade or allow the Town Manager to create a committee. 

Council member Rob Humm said he preferred to not create a committee for the Memorial Day Parade, but suggested that any existing committees in town (Park and Recreation, Senior Services, etc.) that want to submit ideas about the parade can do so — he said they could direct the suggestions to the Town Manager. 

Conway later made a motion to approve the $5,000 to hire a consultant to help organize and coordinate this year’s Memorial Day Parade. Council member Kate Berard seconded the motion, which passed by a 5-0 vote.