Sirens rang, lights flashed, horns honked, and signs and balloons waived around Summer Street for Chloe Desrosiers’ ninth birthday on Tuesday, April 14. 

The birthday girl’s aunt, Maria Tavares, said that she had seen similar birthday parades on Facebook as a way to celebrate from a distance during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Since her niece wouldn’t be able to have a big party like she normally would on her birthday, Tavares decided to reach out to the Wareham Fire Department to ask for a fire truck to parade past the nine-year-old’s Summer Street home. 

From there, the fire department reached out to the Wareham Police and EMS Departments, who sent police cruisers and ambulances to join in on the  celebration.

Surprisingly, Tavares said that the parade only took about twenty minutes to set up. 

By 5 p.m., a long line of police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, and cars full of friends and family came parading down Summer Street to wish Chloe a happy birthday.

“My heart is still beating so fast,” Chloe’s mother, Stephanie Tavares said a couple minutes after the light and siren-filled parade had left the neighborhood.

Chloe said that she was expecting a small party at home with her family, and the parade caught her completely by surprise.