Capital City celebrates 4th
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Runners participate in the Montpelier Mile as part of the city's July 3 celebration. Jeb Wallace-Brodeur/Times Argus |
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By Peter Hirschfeld VERMONT PRESS BUREAU - Published: July 4, 2009
MONTPELIER – Despite one torrential afternoon downpour and the constant cloudy threat of rain, Montpelier's annual July 3 early Independence Day celebration brought thousands of revelers downtown Friday for a day and night of live music, exotic food, a child-pleasing parade and much more.
No one seemed more pleased with the size of the crowd than Diane Scolaro, one of the event organizers, who said she was somewhat surprised given the dark skies. But then, turning her eyes to the crowds lining State Street, waiting for the start of the 6 p.m. Montpelier Mile running race, she added with a smile, "You see all these people."
Early arrivers to the party enjoyed a surprisingly long window of afternoon sun. The local musical outfit D'Moja got things moving with a percussive groove on the lawn of the Kellogg-Hubbard Library as a crowd of mostly young children danced and made crafts.
Erin Magill, a 9-year-old Moretown resident, had crumpled and folded an old newspaper into a hat.
"I'm making little circles of glitter," she said, adding some decorative touches to the headpiece.
Erin would later run the Montpelier Mile, a sprint through downtown streets held immediately before the parade. (Former Montpelier resident Francis Burdett, 44, won the race with a time of 4 minutes and 33 seconds, as a pack of 78 other runners – many of them children – came behind.)
Madeleine Boyce and Alex Forest, both 13, and Willow Barbero, 12, manned a free lemonade station on the library lawn.
"Very popular," Forest said.
From music at local watering holes to movies at the theater to a dance workshop at Union Elementary, the schedule of events Friday offered something for all comers.
With all the activity, there were bound to be some hungry mouths. Food vendors, set up along State Street, prepped for a bustling evening. With dark clouds threatening to block out the warm sun, Frank Gaboree smiled and hoped for the best.
"If it doesn't rain here, we'll do fine," Gaboree said.
Gaboree tested the heat off the gas grill of his Sons of the American Legion kiosk. The group has spent the last three days readying the hamburgers, hot dogs and coolers of Coca-Cola they sold Friday.
"All the money goes to veterans' causes," he said.
The hungry were treated to plenty of choices among the carts, everything from Italian gelato to Pakistani dishes; from fried dough and blue cotton candy to fresh-squeezed lemonade, egg rolls and samosas. There was clothing, jewelry, sunglasses with flashing frames and plenty of balloons for sale.
People danced in front of the Pavilion Building on State Street as the Starline Rhythm Boys played on the balcony above, and Langdon Street was closed to traffic as bands played on a covered stage outside McGillicuddy's Irish Pub.
Little children hopped inside a bouncy-house full of plastic balls in front of the Supreme Court building.
One of the highlights of the event, as it is every year, was the parade that won applause from the lines of people along Main and State streets.
Politicians led the parade entrants, with Sen. William Doyle riding on a bright red Mustang car, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch stopping to play with a baby, and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders earning warm applause all along the route.
Parade participants protested everything from a lack of single-payer health care system to the federal bailout, with Bread and Puppet's giant "Billionaire Bailout Club" puppets towering high above the crowd.
The Mt. Sinai Motor Corps' little go-karts drove their tight circles to the delight of the children, raising money for the Shriners Hospital; candy was thrown to kids begging for sweets; and dancers paid tribute to the death this week of Michael Jackson.
The gala ended with a sea of faces covering the Statehouse lawn and other vantage spots throughout Montpelier, watching the night sky over the city alight with colorful – at times earsplitting – fireworks.
Boyce, Forest and Barbaro said the Capital City transforms into a prime hangout during the holiday festivities.
"The parade and the fireworks, I think, are what most people look forward to most," Barbaro said.
Times Argus Editor Susan Allen contributed to this report.
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