Bethany Beach family surprised by first responder parade

BETHANY BEACH, Del. – Monday a Bethany Beach family got a special surprise when their neighborhood was filled with flashing lights and sirens. It wasn’t an emergency, but rather a celebration. “Not expecting it at all. Wonderful. Millville and all of them dropped in to help us celebrate birthdays, graduations, and everything we had going on,” said Stephen St. Aubin.

Stephen and his daughter Madison are both celebrating their birthdays. “We were sitting out on the porch drinking you know Mike’s Hard, chilling, and all of a sudden I thought there was a fire. My mom was like you guys gotta go outside and it was just a nice little parade,” said Madison.

In fact, the St. Aubin family is celebrating four major milestones this month – including two birthdays and two graduations. Neville St. Aubin decided to surprise her husband, daughter, and two sons with the help of the Bethany Beach Volunteer Fire Company and other local first responders. “We had planned a big party at my nephews house May 16th to celebrate and a big vacation. Both got cancelled obviously,” said Neville.

Neville called up the fire department and they told her they’d be more than happy to help. “They made it a really great day,” said Neville.

The family says seeing their community celebrate them was a special feeling. “We didn’t get to have a live event, but I thought the fire department was a really cool touch,” said Grayson St. Aubin, who is celebrating his high school graduation.

Patrick St. Aubin, who is celebrating graduating from Towson University, agrees, saying it was a great way to mark the special occasion. “I definitely feel like it consoled me a little bit for not having my walking commencement ceremony but you know, it was nice. I’m glad that the community pulled together and was able to do that for me. I feel pretty special,” said Patrick.