Surprise parade brightens Windsor boy's birthday

Aiden Lower certainly did not request a global pandemic and shelter-in-place orders for his 10th birthday. But that's what the Windsor kid got.

Aiden awoke to his big day Wednesday, knowing that due to historically unusual circumstances, his first birthday with a zero in it would be a low-key affair.

But come lunchtime, there was a commotion outside.

There appeared in the street out front of Aiden's house a raucous parade, headed up by the lad's maternal grandparents, Bob Gilmore and Barbara Woods.

Aiden ran out to behold the relatives and family friends in a dozen or so vehicles honking their horns and waving. From the cars' radios blared the song-by-request played on KZST by personality Debbie Abrams: “Happy,” by Pharrell Williams.

And happy Aiden clearly was.

“It brought tears to everybody,” granddad Gilmore said of the socially distanced surprise conceived and pulled off by Aiden's mom, Jenny Gilmore.

“It just made his day,” Bob Gilmore added. “In these times we have to look for little things that put on a smile.”

The Press Democrat wants to know what stories you see emerging and what you're experiencing locally during the shelter-in-place order. Reach out to us at coronavirus@pressdemocrat.com.