By Isabell Macrina
Hometown Weekly Staff
For the last day of Wonderful Wellesley Weekend, the celebration of the Wellesley Veterans Parade is a perfect example of what this weekend represents; the community. With different awards of recognition for community service and more, people got to watch their fellow community members get celebrated and cheer them on.
The theme of this Veterans’ parade was celebrating the 250th birthday of the United States of America. Along with the master of ceremony, Tory Defazio, the co-Grand Marshalls The Daughters and Sons of Liberty marched along Central Street in garb that felt like they walked right out of the 1770s. Different groups like the Massachusetts Army of 1775 and Massachusetts 1775 Colonial Navy of Fall River brought the revolution to our doorsteps with muskets firing blanks and uniforms pulled right out of the history books.
And the parade was never quiet. With different bands like the Roma Band, Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes & Drums, William Diamond Junior Fife & Drum Corps, Boston Firemen’s Band, Tony Barrie Marching Band, Waltham American Legion Band, the various high school marching bands, and The Reminisants performing from the empty bed of a truck. Beyond music, the kids from the various elementary schools cheered as they paraded down, proud to represent their schools and toss some candy into the crowd. The trail of vintage cars driving along gave everyone something to awe at, and laugh at the funny sounding horns. We got to celebrate the intense work that goes into the light plant with their massive vehicles, and the police and fire departments complete with MA state police horses that had the kids cheering. And the co-oldest veterans in town, Joe Nickerson and Amos Amalfi waved through the parade, celebrating them for their service and everyone who is or has served in the past.
Different businesses and groups got the chance to perform for the audience too. With artists and performers making giant mismatched-styled robots that moved and posed, the Westwood Robotics Ultraviolet team showing off their ball-launching robot, three groups of clowns making kids laugh, the Krakowiak Polish Dancers of Boston dancing in the street in traditional garb, and Yee’s Southern Lions which had the traditional Chinese Lion costumes and the performers running into the crowd, it showed just how many different and wonderful communities make up this town. The celebration continued on with the picnic and fireworks at Hunnewell Field, bringing an end to a weekend of celebration and community.
