LC350 Town Crier
LITTLE COMPTON LOVES A PARADE!
CHILDRENS’ PARADE
One of the most successful parades was formed in 1913, a vision of Georgianna Bowen Withington, president of the Village Improvement Society. Two members of the society were traveling in England during the previous summer and the idea for the Children’s Parade was derived from what they saw there. Mrs. Withington saw great merit in including the children of the town in a parade, and she quickly moved forward to make it happen. Three weeks after the Village Improvement Society voted to have a parade, it was an accomplished fact! Financial support was raised, 100 posters were placed all over town, yards of rope were donated by a fisherman to form a huge ring, a local carpenter erected the judges’ stand, and supplies of milk were donated for the children. Every child in town was asked to join in. Anyone with a bike, a pony, a costume, etc. came forward. Others formed groups and some of the costumes were made by the committee. Prominent citizens kept the peace, sold tickets, and acted as judges. Adult admission was a dime, children in costume were admitted free, and anyone wishing parking space for automobiles, carriages, and those who reserved chairs were charged, all to help pay expenses. The committee soon realized this was a much larger venture than they expected.
Lacking the funds to bring in a band, they secured the United States Band from the Fort across the river. This music proved to be the highlight of the day and was a drawing card to the event all day long.
Promptly at two o’clock, the procession entered the eight-acre field, with the order “first come, first served.” Many of the first groups represented the sea: Neptune (Reginald Marsh), carrying a gilded trident, came forward with clothing dripping in seaweed. The Spirit of the Sea (Elizabeth Miller) followed, and then eight little girls dressed in deep blue and wearing white caps to impersonate “Sea Waves” carried life-like seagulls. This group included Ada Wilcox, Alma Wilcox, Susie Cornell, Wilhelmina Peckham, Caroline Brown, Elsie Silveria, Anges Silveria, Mary Sylvia, Olivia Sternes, and Marjorie McFarland. A whale boat came next manned by children wearing oilers and hauling in seines full of imaginary fish (Toilers of the Sea). The Playfellows of the Sea followed wearing bathing suits. Their float was covered in sand, and they played happily with their pails and shovels. The Playfellows comprised Grace Grinnell, Leonard Mersey, Wilfred Mersey, Mary Seabury, Mildred Morrissey, Lena Morrissey, Charles Almy, John Wilcox, Royal Taft, and John MacFarland.
The end of this group was represented by a Marconi device called Conqueror of the Seas.
Awashonks and her braves arrived next, then a float with adorable Mother Goose characters, including Bo-Peep with a live lamb!
A huge chariot with American flags and crowned by an eagle arrived, driven by Uncle Sam, and carrying a passenger – Columbia (Susan Burchard). Next came a double row of children carrying flags of our nation, ending with the Spirit of ’76. Little soldiers with newspaper caps and cheesecloth plumes marched by carrying “curtain rod” gun replicas. These soldiers were followed by children representing a rainbow and carrying a Pot of Gold. The Early Settlers followed along behind them, as well as Captain Kidd and his fearsome crew carrying a lobster pot impersonating a chest marked “Pieces of Eight.” A circus group consisted of a young gypsy lady with a monkey, a clown on a donkey and various and sundry other entertainers.
Each of the sections was preceded by a hand-painted banner carried by Victor Silveira, Joe Carroll, Nelson Eddy and Samuel Field.
While the parade itself was a spectacular event, neighborly kindness, and the spirit of helpfulness was what pervaded the town!
FIRE DEPARTMENT PARADE OF FLOATS
The annual parade of floats sponsored by the Little Compton Fire Department was held on the 4th of July from the 1940’s through the early 1960’s. This was a motorized parade which began at the fire station (located next to the Odd Fellows Hall at the time) and traveled from the Commons to Sakonnet Point, then to Adamsville, and then back to the Commons. Any construction company with a flatbed trailer was called into use for the school band, and for the floats constructed by local organizations. It was quite a competition! Judging was held, and there were coveted prizes. (I am thinking bragging rights!) This parade was something the town looked forward to, and planned for, all year ‘round. On July 4, 1959, the Barn Owls Square Dance Club captured first prize, with the second prize going to Chester Wilkie for his merry-go-round float. The Little Compton Grange float depicting Alaska and Hawaii as the two new states received third prize.
TWICE AROUND THE COMMONS – MEMORIAL DAY PARADE
The Memorial Day Parade that we have now is a far cry from the ones we used to have. There was always a marching band, whether the Wilbur School band (when we had a high school), or the Middletown High School band when our students attended high school there, or the Portsmouth High School band for the same reason. Many of our Little Compton students were active in the bands of Middletown and Portsmouth. Little League, Boy and Girl Scouts, Brownies, Cub Scouts, 4-H Clubs, the American Legion and the Legion Auxiliary (the Legion was responsible for the parade, and the auxiliary always served lunch after), every community organization such as the Odd Fellows, the Grange, the Garden Clubs, Village Improvement Society, Historical Society, Public Health Nursing Association, School Committee, Town Council, clergy, etc. marched in this parade. In 1983, long time American Legion member and parade marshal Warren Nickerson estimated that there were about 500 people marching, and a similar number standing on the sidelines cheering them on! Then, as now, the parade would march twice around the Commons and retire to Pike’s Peak for patriotic speeches, the playing of TAPS with an echo, etc. This continues today, but participation has been waning, both in the parade and on the sidelines. This parade to honor our citizens who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country needs help. (If only Warren was still with us!). Let’s work on this parade and try to bring it back to what it once was!
TRICENTENNIAL PARADE - 1975
In 1975, the Tricentennial Committee presented the parade to beat (HEADS UP LC350!) Staging began at the split of West Main Road and Old Main Road. The parade commenced there and followed West Main Road to Meeting House Lane, directly to Veterans’ Field and the flag-draped reviewing stand for the opening ceremonies on Pike’s Peak.
Phil Wilbur, the Town Clerk, headed the parade dressed as the Town Crier and rang a bell signifying the beginning of a fourth century for the town. There were military bands of all types, both current and historic, fife and drum corps from all over New England, horsedrawn floats from town and surrounding communities, oxen drawn floats, golf cart floats, Native Americans, horse drawn cannons, a contingent of clowns popping up all over the parade, a calliope, antique cars galore, police and fire departments from Little Compton and communities all over this state and others, the Tricentennial queen and her court arrived in an antique convertible, as did the Little Compton Town Council (Jane Cabot, Fred Silva, Jim Rocha, Tommy Goulart, and Pat Parente). Bill Middendorf, the then Secretary of the Navy, was driven in a smart looking antique roadster. (FUN FACT – BILL MIDDENDORF HAS BEEN CHOSEN TO BE THE GRAND MARSHALL OF THE 2025 PARADE). Lewis Rogers and his son, Colonel Gardner Rogers, USAF, were driven in their 1953 Ford convertible. Gardner was asked to be the Grand Marshall of the parade because he was the highest-ranking active military officer of Little Compton at the time. Gardner said that since his dad was a lifelong resident and contributed so much to the town, he put him in the back seat of the convertible where he was supposed to sit as Grand Marshall. He said his dad enjoyed every moment. (FUN FACT – GARDNER HAS BEEN REQUESTED TO DRIVE THE QUEEN OF LITTLE COMPTON’S 350TH BIRTHDAY IN THIS SAME CONVERTIBLE IN THE 2025 PARADE).
Little Compton was so well-represented with clever floats, from Wilbur’s Store with Ida Smith and friends showing off the pot belly stove, an antique sewing machine and so many things from Wilbur’s past; the Village Improvement Society with an exact replica of the Brownell House; Stanely Simons and his miniature Shell station in a golf cart, and the Goulart family and their farm wagon, etc.
It was an extremely hot day (nearly 100 degrees if I remember correctly), and the beautiful birthday cake that Lorraine Goulart made, and her family successfully placed on the reviewing stand, was melting in front of our eyes. Ted Bowen read the proclamation he wrote, Rev. Dr. Robert Lawrence addressed the assembled, town and state officials spoke, Vicar and Mrs. Evans from Little Compton, England presented gifts to Little Compton and received gifts from Little Compton, and still the cake stood. So many others on the reviewing stand took their turn congratulating the town on their 300th birthday, and still the cake stood! Finally, the time came to cut the cake, and the feeling of relief was poignant. The cake survived (and so did poor Lorraine!).
Little Compton was awash in a sea of tricorn hats, mob caps, colonial garb in every form, and smiles everywhere that day. It was a wonderful parade, and the beginning of a fabulous celebration of our town’s 300th year!
P0RTUGUESE FEAST PARADE
One of the events presented at the Tricentennial was the Portuguese Feast. As part of this day a parade of men, women, and children of the St. Catherine of Siena parish representing various events of the Catholic faith, many in authentic costumes, a beautifully decorated ox cart carrying part of the Camara family, the Santa Christo band from Fall River, etc. lined up outside the church on Simmons Road to march around Pike’s Peak before the feast and celebration began. The temperature hovered around 105 degrees, and hot sopa was the first course. What a day!
LC350 PARADE – 2025
Fast forward fifty years to Saturday, August 16, 2025, and another parade! This parade will step off at 11 am. from Peckham Road at West Main Road, south down the Great West Road to Meeting House Lane, continue to the south of Pike’s Peak, and head south on South of Commons Road to Bill Richmond’s fields, where most of the celebration will take place.
So – who’s in? It’s time to think about YOUR float! What will people remember in 2075? We are hoping organizations, businesses, citizens of all walks of life will get into the parade spirit. Find parade information and an application at LC350th.com. Announcements will be made on social media (LC350) and in newspapers.