Parades in Willimantic - Part 1 by Pete Zizka 9-10-2022 |
When Mike Tirone and I were writing our book about the history of the
Willimantic Fire Department, we noticed how important parades were as a
source of entertainment. From the 1800s through the WWII period,
community events were the main source of
social activities and parades were a part of many of them. In
1911, there were no fewer than 12 parades in Willimantic.) Mike and I
found that in the first decades of the 1900s, it
was not uncommon for fire companies from different towns to travel in
order to attend parades, balls, or other special events of out of town
departments. This was done to "show off" a new apparatus, or participate
in those special events. Whenever Willimantic’s Fire Department left or
other departments visited, there would be a
parade to (or from) the
train station. These annual parades were often elaborate with several
civic groups and one or more bands participating. The fire department’s
annual Spring inspections were also preceded by a parade. But in the
city’s early years, almost every civic and social group hosted parades.
T
General Baldwin’s “Putnam Phalanx” came to Willimantic in 1891 for their
annual field day. A drum corps “discoursing the regular
old-fashioned martial music” led them from the train station to the
Natchaug Rifle Range. In
1893 the Thread City Cyclers held a bicycle race open to “all the
bicycle riders of the city”. They began with a short parade led by the
Thread City Band. One of many 1895 parades was held by Willimantic’s
National Guard companies as they met for their annual target practice.
We mustn’t forget the 1905 parade that concluded the two day
celebrations of the French-Canadian “Saint Jean Baptiste Society”.
Besides marchers from French-Canadian societies, many other civic and
social organizations joined in. A special feature was that about fifty
members of “The Venerable Club” (Seth Hooker’s club for those over 80
years old) gathered in front of the Hooker Hotel to review the parade.
One band halted in front of them and played “Auld Lang Syne”. It was
said of the parade that, “it was the most picturesque parade which has
appeared in the streets in several years. The parade route would
oftentimes be short and direct, but at other times would wind through
the streets of the city. The line of march for the Fire Department’s
Labor Day parade of 1903 started at Valley and Bank Street where the
units marched to “Church Street to Main, up Main to Windham, to Valley,
down Valley to Walnut, up Walnut to Prospect, down Prospect to Jackson,
down Jackson to Union, to Main and up Main to Bank.” And the Chronicle
reported that even this “was not the longest firemen’s parade which has
been seen in the city. “What was Willimantic’s largest parade?”, one
might wonder. Arguably, it was
the 12 division, 340 unit (almost 5 hours) Loyalty Day Parade of May,
1964 which was said to have drawn 100,000 spectators and 20,000
marchers. The parade route was from Recreation Park to Holbrook Avenue.
But that was really a statewide event. As far as community-based parades
goes, the largest parade was probably the one held as part of the Old
Home and Old School Week . Besides an enormous number of bands, civic,
social and military groups there were also hundreds of automobiles.”
The parades held on July 4th,
1910 and 1911 were also described as “mammoth street pageants”. These
parades were held as part of the day long Independence Day celebrations
in those years. The 1911 parade combined the July 4th
festivities with the Franco-American Brigade of New England’s field day
which was being held in town. The parade consisted of 5 divisions.
“Willimantic thronged with 10,000 visitors who came by train and
trolley. The city presented a gala appearance. Nearly every building,
business block or residence along the line of march of the parade was
decorated, many showing American and French flags side by side.” Today’s
We’ll take a further look at
Willimantic’s parades next week. Click on photo for larger version |
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