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ZANY MARCHERS CELEBRATE FOURTH
Annual event takes to Willimantic streets
By Sean Messick, Norwich Bulletin
July 5, 1995
WILLIMANTIC -- WILI Radio personality Wayne Norman was a little concerned when he looked over Jillson Square at about 10 A.M. Tuesday.
It wasn't anything he saw--but rather what he couldn't see. Less than an hour before the start of the Fourth of July Boom Box Parade, few people had gathered for the annual tradition in Willimantic.
Norman, who is affectionately known as "Wayne" to his radio fans and co-workers, was again serving as grand marshal for the event. By 10:30 A.M., his apprehension was eased--and totally erased by 10:45 A.M.--as marchers and floats began falling into formation.
In fact, the 10th annual Boom Box Parade was nearly a record setter--lasting nearly 62 minutes, three minutes shy of the record. Kicking off at 11:00 A.M., clowns, beauty queens, and U. S. Rep. Sam Gejdenson, D-2nd District, marched up Main Street to Memorial Park, past the Windham Town Hall, to the cheers of residents crowding the sidewalks of the parade route.
For the early arrivals, shade was the reward.
A highlight of each year's event is Norman's parade outfit. His 1994 attire consisted of a white tuxedo and shoes made from styrofoam and boxes.
His 1995 getup included the same shoes--but no tuxedo. Instead, the formal attire was replaced with a University of Connecticut basketball uniform in honor of the women's NCAA championship team and the men's Big East champions--along with a drum major's tall hat and epaulets.
Norman knows a bit about the UConn teams. He's broadcast UConn sports since the 1970's.
Another longtime participant in the annual event is the Traveling Fishheads of Northeastern Connecticut, making their ninth consecutive appearance.
The group started, according to Jim Baber of Willimantic--who allegedly spawned the idea--with fishermen who froze the heads of larger and more unusual fish caught, sometimes exchanging them with others who had frozen fish heads. Although the fish heads themselves are no more, the 15 members of the group have donned homemade fish head costumes in their annual march down Main Street.
"You don't want to do normal things at this party," Norman said of his fishy friends. "You like to see creativity."
There is, however, some tradition associated with the untraditional celebration--music being the main dish.
Although not limited to strictly patriotic tunes, the vast majority of tunes are selected for their marchability. The traditional medley of Armed Forces songs was expanded this year to include the Coast Guard's "Semper Paratus"--at the request of guardsmen who particpated in the parade for the second year.
The annual Boom Box Parade was born more out of accident than design in 1986 when that year's Windham Memorial Day parade was cancelled. Kathy Clark from the Willimantic Housing Authority approached WILI about possibly providing music for a Memorial Day parade after a marching band cancelled. Unable to fill the bill on such short notice, Clark and station employees liked the idea and planned for the next "appropriate" holiday--the Fourth of July.
Appropriately, it is a tradition all its own. |
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