BRISTOL, R.I. — The red, white and blue stripe has been painted down Hope Street, the 19th-century houses downtown are draped with bunting, and the harbor is alive with the riffle of sails and the throaty purr of power boats.
Blue hydrangeas burst from lawns, sunsets are a blush of apricot and plum skies. Music spills from Independence Park , a harbinger of Bristol’s celebration, which culminates Thursday with the 239th edition of the parade, billed as the oldest commemoration of the nation’s founding in the country. Thousands will throng the town’s streets to watch the bands and drum and bugle corps, hum to Sousa tunes, and take in the spectacle of floats, firetrucks, beauty queens, puppets, military marchers and preening politicians.
The annual series of concerts, fund-raising events, galas, beauty contests, and carnivals has ushered in the biggest day on the town’s social calendar. Advertisement In much of our nation these days, Independence Day is marked by a break from work, family gatherings, or a trip to the water’s edge. But at a time when many civic celebrations have been taken over by event planners and public relations consultants, Bristol clings to tradition.
Bristol’s Fourth is put on by a citizen group that raises the money and spends all year planning. It’s a throwback to the voluntary associations so admired by France’s Alexis de Tocqueville on his trip to the United States in the 1830s. A big deal is made of folks who hail from far away or m.
