FARMINGTON — Ethan Collins sat in the open trunk of his family’s minivan, wrapped in a blanket and wearing fluffy reindeer earmuffs while waiting for a parade to start Saturday morning in Farmington.
The 7-year-old boy cupped his mittens over his nose, a bright red thanks to the chilly air outside where people lined the streets for the town’s annual winter celebration of Chester Greenwood, the Farmington man who invented earmuffs back in 1877.
His mother, Tina, patted her son’s head and told him maybe the next big winter clothing invention had just been discovered.
“You’re going to be the one to invent the nosemuff aren’t you,” she said.
The mother from Wilton then asked her 5-year-old sons, Eric and Derric, about who their brother was acting like, to which all three responded with the famous inventor’s name.
“They’re all very inventive,” the proud mother said.
Plenty in the crowd seemed to share in the inventive spirit. Many people young and old alike showed off their creative handmade earmuff designs tweaking on the traditional Greenwood model, a plain, warm material connected by wire.
Some donned earmuffs in the shape of Christmas trees and furry animals, while others decorated plain models with an array of colorful designs and materials.
Paradegoers stood on sidewalks and lawns to point out their favorite floats, with some of the giant earmuffs keeping pickup trucks and school buses warm drawing the biggest applause.
A troupe of jugglers in business suits wore earmuffs and a Mt. Blue High School a cappella group performed holiday tunes on a street corner while, of course, wearing the favorite winter clothing item of the day.
Beverly Lefebvre, 71, sat in a folding chair wearing plain fluffy beige earmuffs, telling a story about her aunt who supposedly had a pair of earmuffs designed by Greenwood himself.
The Farmington native recalled how she inherited the treasured earmuffs, only to have her son lose them at a show-and-tell several decades ago.
Lefebvre still teases her son, who is in his 40s today, about losing the family heirloom, but they like to share the story as a little piece of their hometown’s history, she said.
“We gotta be known for something and earmuffs are as good as anything,” she said with a smile.
David Robinson — 861-9287
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