Alfred's Only Traffic Light Turns 50

ox watches over the traffic light
To commemorate the anniversary, Alfred State College and Alfred University are hosting reunions in June to invite alumni to campus and celebrate the village's one-and-only traffic light installed 50 years ago.

At a glance

Celebrate Alfred on Saturday, June 8 at 6 p.m. for THE Traffic Light Festival. 

Alfred is small enough that only one intersection needs a traffic light. However, Alfred makes a big name for itself attracting such a high concentration of students that the Washington Post named picture-perfect Alfred the #1 Ultimate College Town in the US.

Big Blue Ox graphic

By Village of Alfred Trustee Becky Prophet.

The Traffic Light Festival is Just Around the Corner—er, um, Down at the Intersection

Saturday, June 8 Comes Faster Than THE Light Changes

Oh, it goes so fast!  We all know how time flies and we are FLYING right into the Traffic Light Festival! Many of us can’t believe that the traffic light has been there that long and the new bridge for such a short time. Ah, life’s little challenges, lit up in red, yellow, and green.

Have you planned your group’s and your costumes or transport for the parade? Remember how just a few short weeks ago, you had forever to do that? Please, contact Becky Prophet on Facebook or through becky.prophet@gmail.com to “register” for your place in this historic parade. ANYONE can join. To “register” I just need to know how many in your group, whether you will be walking or riding, and if riding, on or in what?  

50th-anniversary traffic light t-shirts will be available at the delightful and historic price (about 2004 dollars) of $10 per shirt. Souvenir (but completely edible) traffic jam will also be available. Carry the joy of the celebration into the future and help support the renovation of the playgrounds in the Village.  

Plan on how you want to cross the bridge for the first time. Many are planning to be the first to ______across the bridge. The first to walk across has already happened. Ditto the first to run across. But have you come up with a way to do it that works for your personality in this momentous time?

The band “Sweet Degenerates,” provided by Alfred State College, will get you toe-tapping and disco jamming with music from the ’70s, as well more modern popular music to dance to. Unlike the bridge crossings, the street dance will be under the light, of course.

Light up your life and that of family and friends by letting Becky Prophet know what you will be/do in the parade, through Facebook or becky.prophet@gmail.com. Plan for T-shirts and traffic jam. But most of all, join the celebration of this important intersection of the Village of Alfred, Alfred University, and Alfred State College.

Everyone is welcome, whether you live, earn, or learn in Alfred or anywhere else in the world.  See you there, on Saturday, June 8. The parade forms at 5:30 and steps off at 6:00 to begin this community-wide celebration.

Additional material by Becky Prophet.