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Health & Fitness

2003 Bristol 4th of July celebration Report

Two Hundred Twenty-sixth Anniversary of American Independence          

The treasurer’s report dated April 28, 2003.

BAL: 02/28/03:  $164,946.96

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Deposits:  $16,656.00

Withdrawals:  $7,415.34

Find out what's happening in Bristol-Warrenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

BAL: 03/31/03: $174,306.15

 Co-Chief Marshals.
The best kept secret in Bristol and the one that generates the most speculation of its content is the secret surrounding the name of the person anointed Chief Marshal of Bristol’s Grand Civic, Military and Firemen’s Parade.

For her selection, Committee Chair Donna St. Angelo chose husband and wife Raymond Cordeiro and Oryann Lima.

St. Angelo said, “Suddenly, this one couple stood out, since they are involved with the town and both are true Bristolians.”

Cordeiro is Bristol born; he's a 1956 graduate of Colt Memorial High School where he starred on the baseball and basketball teams. He returned to Bristol after 19 years playing professional baseball for several major league teams; he is a five-term member of the Bristol Town Council. For the past 21 years he has been employed by Roger Williams University.

Lima is a lifelong Bristol resident. She graduated from Bristol High School in 1967; she earned a bachelors degree at Trinity College and received a master’s degree in elementary education at Rhode Island College. She is director of her father’s George C. Lima Funeral Home; she also serves as a volunteer for many civic, religious, and municipal groups.

 Flag Day Kickoff
The canon fired, the ropes snapped taut, and the Stars and Stripes unfurled over the town common to mark the official start of Bristol’s 218th consecutive Fourth of July Celebration.

In keeping with established tradition, the Flag Day ceremony is the venue for the introduction of key celebration figures to citizens.

The true star of the day, however, was the flag itself. Bristol Town Council Chairman Richard Ruggiero reminded those who assembled that, “Today we gather to honor the flag. It’s something that we do today, but something that we should do every day of our lives.”

“We’re a bunch of flag wavers in this town,” confirmed 1986 Chief Marshal Joan Roth. She stood reminiscing with Fred Pacheco, the 1988 Chief Marshal. Both agreed that Flag Day gets them energized for all the traditional Bristol Fourth of July activities planned for the following three weeks.

 Vintage Baseball
A relatively new sporting event that has gained popularity with baseball fans is the annual 19th-century baseball game. This year, the Bristol Blues played the Providence Pondfielders. The draw to this event is that the game is played using 1860 rules and without modern equipment.

 Antique, Classic, and Custom Car Show
 The 14th annual exhibit and competition of classic automobiles sponsored by the Fourth of July Committee took place at the Guiteras School athletic field on Washington Street. After the award of prizes to vehicles in several categories, the exhibitors drove in procession along the town’s traditional parade route before leaving for home.

 Fourth of July Ball
 Second only to the Chief Marshal’s reception, the most anticipated part of the celebration is the annual Fourth of July Ball. Though the ball’s setting and ticket price has changed many times over the years it has remained Bristol’s singular social event of the year.

In 1970, the ball was held at the National Guard Armory on Metacom Avenue, tickets were $10 per couple. The 2003 ball was held at the Bristol Yacht Club; the price of admission, $100 per couple.

 The Day We Celebrate
At the Patriotic Exercises under overcast skies speeches dedicated to national pride and prayers of thanksgiving were the order of the day.

Lt. Governor Charles Fogerty proclaimed Bristol the nation’s capital, at least for the day. “This is the day every year that Bristol becomes not only the capital of Rhode Island, but the capital of America,” he said.

Commander Rick Wilson, captain of the guided missile frigate USS Simpson, anchored in Bristol Harbor for the holiday festivities, said his crew had fallen in love with the town and its patriotism.

 “If you see our crew wandering around a few days from now, don’t be surprised,” he joked. “They really like your town.”

Speaker of the Day, Rear Admiral Barbara McGann, USN, retired, said the character of Americans is what makes the country stronger.

 “As we have watched the heart-warming images from the war in Iraq, the character of America has been visible on every young face,” she said.

Harking back to the terrorists’ attacks of September 11, 2001, Admiral McGann added that today’s heroes and heroines are ordinary people, like the people who helped crash the plane into a Pennsylvania field, perhaps saving many hundreds of innocent lives, and the truck driver who helped catch the sniper who ran loose in Washington. She said we should honor individuals like these.

“Today, let us celebrate our Independence Day, but let us also recommit ourselves to our fundamental values,” She said.

The Grand Civic, Military, and Firemen’s Parade steeped in the traditions of two-centuries of commemorating Independence Day in this patriotic old town is distinctly something unto itself. It has grown and matured from a simple procession of hundreds of town’s folk to become a multi-division demonstration of nationalistic fervor by literally thousands of citizens, strangers and invited guests.

As the parade has become larger in the number and diversification of participants, and longer in duration of time it takes to pass one point on the 2.6-mile route, little has changed since its official origin in 1815 when it only traversed the principle “down town” streets.

In fact, the 2.6-mile parade route is not long enough to accommodate all marching units at one time. Typically, each year since the mammoth 1976 bicentennial parade, when the Chief Marshal’s Division arrives at the reviewing stand at the Reynolds School on High Street, one or two divisions have yet to move from the muster area on Chestnut Street.

For the 2003 edition, parade organizers planned a shorter procession. In deference to over heated marchers and spectators they decided to cut or not invite some marching units, thus cutting march and review time by one hour. 

Chief Marshals Cordeiro and Lima said their emotions took over, after the ribbon cutting, when they took their first steps on the red, white, and blue painted parade route.

As a member of the Bristol Town Council, Cordeiro has marched in many 4th of July parades, but this one belonged to him and his wife.

Buildings, both residential and commercial, on both sides of the parade route on Hope and High Streets had sprout American and state flags, and the flags of many countries: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Lebanon, and Portugal; banners, bunting, and ribbons fluttered on light and fleeting breezes.

There was the usual contingent of local, state, and federal politicians smiling, waving, and shaking hands with constituents and potential voters. They included Governor Donald Carcieri, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, US Senators Jack Reed and Lincoln Chafee, US representatives Patrick J. Kennedy and James R. Langevin, as well as newly elected Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline.

The parade consisted of the usual eclectic collection of bands, floats; patriotic and civic units and individual marchers; by the end of the two- and one-half hours, 20 floats, 25 bands and about 2500 marchers in the parade’s six divisions had passed the reviewing stand.

 Frightened Horse Startles Crowd
Shortly before 12:30 p.m., the parade came to a screeching halt. People on and around the reviewing stand were justifiably startled when drivers of the Hallamore Trucking Company’s wagon lost control of the team of eight one-ton Clydesdale horses.

As the Clydesdales were moving along toward the reviewing stand, one of the horses became frightened and disoriented and charged into the crowd on the west side of High Street just past the Bayfield School. Then it seemed to turn its sights on the reviewing stand before the driver could reign in the large animal.

A spectator who received minor injuries and later taken to Rhode Island Hospital for observation said, “A group of horses came charging in our direction.” Later, from his Little Compton home, he lamented that he missed half the parade.

Why the horse became frazzled is open to debate, though many believed it to be the colorfully painted street design. At the reviewing stand three-dimensional lettering and simulated fireworks are painted in the street. Some thought that the letter “O” in the word Bristol appeared to the horse to be a hole in the ground. Others thought that the realistically painted rocket trailing a fiery tail appeared as real fire to the horse.

About a half hour later, a second horse suddenly stopped short just before the painted area and began to veer off toward the east side of the street, eliciting shrieks and a scramble to clear the area.

Warned that a third group of equestrians were on their way, Police Chief Serpa radioed a parade spotter alerting him of the potential problem and re-routed that group of horses south on Church Street.

 A Postscript on the Day
By 3 p.m., it was all over. The last float, Barrington’s infamous blue cow towed by a Munroe Dairy delivery truck painted white with black patches passed the reviewing stand.

The moderate temperature hovering in the upper 70s and low 80s and soft cooling breezes off Bristol Harbor allowed members of the Bristol Fire Department and rescue units to enjoy the day more than they did in 2002.

Fire Chief David Sylvaria said they had calls coming in at a steady pace but nowhere near what it was like during last year’s oppressive heat and humidity.

Unlike the Bristol parades of the wild and disorderly days of the 1970s and even some of loud and raucous parades of the 1980s, including Bristol’s Tercentennial parade, the 2003 edition was unusually restrained. Chief Serpa said the crowd was definitely smaller than usual, the traffic lighter, and the competition for viewing spots was not as fierce as in other years.

As police prepared to shut off the parade route to vehicles shortly after 8 a.m., there were few cars on the road. The route along Hope Street was lined with chairs, but few people were occupying them, and only a handful of people were wandering around the area near the Lobster Pot Restaurant at the south end of Hope Street.

During the parade, the sidewalks along the route, usually overflowing with cheering spectators were for the most part free and clear, making it easy for strollers to navigate. Later in the day, along High Street, it was as easy going as on any other summer day.

Some parade officials reported the cheering seemed restrained, as floats that in the past would receive loud rounds of applause received only polite signs of approval.

The restrained atmosphere was even evident on the usually rowdy “Night Before” when typically bars and clubs do a land office business with freely flowing beer. Chief Serpa reported a quiet night, with only a few arrests for minor offences.

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