CHESTERFIELD — Gil Smith marched Monday at the head of Chesterfield’s 75th annual July Fourth parade with the flag-bearing honor guard of American Legion Post 304 from nearby Cummington.
Smith, a Navy veteran who lives in Chesterfield, was also in the first parade 75 years ago as a 4-year-year-old.
“I think my sister pulled me in the wagon,” said Smith, honored by the parade as volunteer of the year in 2019. “It’s a great event. It’s great to be back.”
This 75th-anniversary parade was the first traditional parade since 2019. Because of COVID-19, organizers hosted long drive-by parades in 2020 and 2021, with spectators sitting out in their own front yards to wave as the celebration passed by, said Leslie Kellogg, chair of the Parade Committee.
“This year we’re back in person,” she said. “It’s a huge celebration for us. The whole town gets behind it. It’s great just to get together.”
There are just 1,800 people living in Chesterfield, located in the hilltowns of western Hampshire County. But there had to be twice that many people lining the streets Monday, not counting those who marched.
“And the whole town marches,” Kellogg said. “The parade draws spectators from all over.”
Marching this year were the Caledonian Pipe Band from Holyoke and the Florene Community Band from Northampton. Heritage Pops played jazz and standards on the community center lawn before and after the parade. The aroma of barbecue chicken billowed out from the First Congregational Church.
This year, the parade committee added a pre-Independence Day block party with a band and food trucks Sunday night on a blocked-off South Street.
“We’ll definitely do it again,” Kellogg said.
Also back this year from a hiatus was the Chesterfield Fire Department’s parade-day breakfast.
Returning again as well were international students in the University of Massachusetts Civic Initiative. There were 15 form Pakistan and 20 more from the countries of North Africa. All are in just the first few days of a summer program that UMass Amherst operates in partnership with the U.S. State Department.
The visitors spent the hour or so before the parade taking selfies with American flags and classic cars in the background and sampling hot dogs and popcorn served up by the town’s youth programs.
“It’s a great way to get some exposure to American culture,” said Avinash Nankami of Pakistan. “This is fun.”
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