George Chelwick’s 95th Birthday is Marked by Thanksgiving Eve Car Parade

Nov 25 was George Chelwick’s birthday and he turned 95.

The event was marked by a car parade of longtime friends some veterans, led by Greenwich Police officers on motorcycles.

When George turned 18, after graduating Greenwich High School, he was inducted into the Army Air Force.

He had wanted to be a fighter pilot. He entered the service in March 1944. D-Day was June 1944. The 18-year-old boys in George’s class in the Army Air Force were told there wasn’t a need for pilots. Instead went through different tests to determine his placement and ended up being part of the Ground Control Approach, stationed in Manila in the Philippines.

Ground Control Approach, or GCA for short, was a service provided by air-traffic controllers where they guided aircraft to a safe landing, including in poor weather conditions, based on primary radar images.

George and his wife Nancy celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary last year. The couple have three sons.

George volunteered with the Boy Scouts for over 50 years. He was also a member of the RMA and president of the Byram Rotary.

But what many know George best for is his years volunteering to film Greenwich High School football games, which he did from 1970-2012, filming a total of about 500 games from Boston to Florida.

A couple dozen cars showed up on Wednesday to wish George a happy birthday.

One driver held up a simple poster that said it all with, “America’s Finest.”

The last two cars of the parade were Police Chief Jim Heavey and his son James, who is home from Northeastern University in Boston, where he is an international affairs major and part of ROTC.

Happy birthday, George!