Monica Shaw thought her special day had ended.Her 34th birthday party was over. The pizza was gone. So was the ice cream. All her stuffed animals – she calls them her buddies – had gone to sleep. And Shaw’s mother, Sally Jo Laubscher, waited until the 11th hour to come clean.
Laubscher revealed to her daughter that a special parade – coordinated by a Concord woman named Candace Abood – was on its way to their house in Concord, at that very moment. Big vehicles with big noise would pass by soon.
And everyone loves a parade, right? Especially during the season of lost classes, proms, graduations, school sports tournaments, even whole businesses.
Birthday parties, for the most part, have joined that list as well. Not on Abood’s watch, though. Those who climbed aboard her ship via Facebook learned a new manner in which to celebrate a birthday, all part of this era of change.
Monica’s party provided a blueprint. With the pizza and Monica’s buddies gone, Laubscher told her daughter, who has special needs, something really big was coming, just for her and no one else.
“Her birthday was her favorite day, and this would be her first year without a celebration,” said Abood. “It speaks to who you are personally and it makes them feel extra special and it allows them to have something they will remember.”
Remembered Laubscher, “I told her there was one more surprise. I told her it was a parade, but I don’t know if she fully comprehended. She probably thought it was a parade that we were going to.”
It was. The one organized by Abood. Staged right there, outside the birthday girl’s home. Soon, cars were honking, fire trucks were blasting their sirens, and personalized placards in big letters – shouting Monica’s name – rolled by.
Abood got the idea while living in Bow, and she’s borrowed the central theme and brought it to Concord.
“I cannot take full credit,” said Abood, who works in social services. “I wanted to replicate what I saw in Bow and help celebrate kids and families and people with disabilities and the eldery who might want to do this.”
Abood’s life story screams altruism from each page. She’s worked with titles such as post adoption services coordinator for organizations with titles like the New Hampshire Association for Infant Mental Health. She’s fought against child abuse, domestic violence and human trafficking. She’s done interventions.
“It’s about working directly with families,” Abood said. “Help them to overcome hard times and meet the needs of kids with difficult backgrounds and help parents with their problems.”
Once she saw Bow’s parade program, Abood applied the idea in Concord and spread the word on Facebook. Birthday parties, traditional birthday parties, were out of the picture. The world was under attack. Something different, creative, needed to be done.
Abood told people to send her their child’s names, hometown, approaching age and so on. Plus, she told them to include their favorite color and activity.
That way, Abood could personalize each parade, all held in Concord, for each child, gear it for a special individual and post the image on Facebook. She also made sure everyone knew which side of their vehicle to decorate, depending on the location of the house.
Parade No. 1 was for Easton, a boy turning 4, on April 15. On average, about 13 vehicles, with varying numbers of people, have joined the parade line in each of three parades staged thus far.
There’s also a fire engine and an ambulance and another Concord Fire Department vehicle. They swirl the lights. They make the noise. Abood attaches the name of the child being honored to the side of her car. That confirms something important: the parade is for you.
“Some of these people are complete strangers,” Abood said. “We’re looking for a connection at a time we can not connect. We are made to connect with each other, and there are other ways to make it happen.”
Everyone met at White Park for the first one, then rolled down Church Street to Easton’s home. Groups of families watched, bunched tightly together, making sure to keep their distance from other groups nearby.
Abood said she believed her first parade might be her last. Too much responsibility, she thought. More help was needed.
Those thoughts passed. Quickly.
“I saw the need in Concord and tried it out for one family and said, ‘Oh my God, this could become something big,’ ” Abood said. “But after the first one, I saw the joy to the family and also the community and the Fire Department and the neighborhood, so I decided I would go on a wing and a prayer.”
Monica’s birthday bash was next, on the 18th. She loves stuffed animals, especially wolves and coyotes. Her “buddies” were all invited to the party at her home.
They were great company, sure, but it’s a good bet that Monica would have liked a few other guests there as well.
For Monica, Abood posted a Facebook cover photo to publicize the parade, which began at the Bektash Shriners. “Happy Howling Birthday Monica,” says a wolf, the star of the promotional Facebook post.
Monica cradled her stuffed wolf, waving to Abood, flicking the wolf’s paw up and down, a welcoming gesture, sign language for “happy birthday.”
A 10-year-old girl named Abigail had the next parade, on the 20th, with a Facebook cover photo full of pink and dancing and tumbling. Abigail’s favorite color. Her favorite thing to do.
Two more are planned for Saturday, back-to-back. One, Finn’s sixth birthday, will leave the Monitor parking lot at 2:30 p.m., the other from the Holiday Inn to celebrate Lily’s 10th birthday. The National Guard is supposed to be there.
“It does as much for me as it does for them,” Abood said. “To be a part of their story and bring a little light during a period of darkness.”
It worked for Monica as well. She’s lost two of her main avenues for growth and comfort, in music and equine therapy, because of the pandemic.
She didn’t lose her birthday, though. That’s always been her favorite day of the year. A text from Abood to Laubscher, about three minutes before the parade started, got things in motion.
“We’re on our way,” it read.
“After it was over, we went back to the house to settle down,” Laubscher said. “I asked Monica how she liked the parade, and she started crying.”
Then Monica told her mother, “The best birthday ever.”
Search for Concord Birthday Cavalry to find Abood’s Facebook page.