Island Pond parade still going strong after 47 years

by Sylvia Dodge

ISLAND POND — Independence Day weekend in Island Pond has been a time of festive events as far back as most people can remember.  If not for an old postcard, though, things could have been totally different.

Beverly “Bev” Pepin, the master of ceremonies for Saturday’s annual parade, ran a beauty parlor for 30 years.  In 1974, one of her customers —Marion Barnes — brought in a postcard from 1927.  It depicted the last Independence Day parade staged in Island Pond.

Today, it may be hard to believe, but no Independence Day parade had been held in the community for almost 50 years!

After work, Ms. Pepin headed to American Legion Post #80 and ran into some friends, Muriel Maw O’Gorman and her husband, Nick, and Francis Goulet and her husband, Ted.

Ms. Pepin asked her friends, “Why don’t we form a parade?”  That’s exactly what they did.

The three women spent the next year going door-to-door, asking businesses and neighbors to participate in a Fourth of July parade, and in 1975 they had a doozy.

“It was a two-hour-long extravaganza,” said Ms. Pepin.

Island Pond has organized community festivities on Independence Day ever since.  Not only is there a parade — a busy three-day celebration has also blossomed.  It’s full of music, events like canoe races and scavenger hunts, community breakfasts and chicken barbecues.

Frances Goulet is no longer here, but Mrs. O’Gorman was the centerpiece of one of the floats organized by Ms. Pepin for Saturday’s parade.  A retired schoolteacher, she rode with Batman and a few youngsters on a float with patriotic colors and a sign celebrating, “Old School Dedicated to Muriel Maw O’Gorman.”

Mrs. O’Gorman is the fourth daughter of Charles F. Maw, to whom a monument is dedicated in Veterans Park.  The monument was placed on May 10, 2020, honoring Mr. Maw’s years of service to the town — 30 years as locomotive foreman for the Grand Trunk Railroad, where Island Pond was important as the mid-point between Montreal, Quebec, and Portland, Maine.  Mr. Maw also served 37 years as a selectman, was president of the town’s YMCA board, health commissioner, cemetery commissioner, president of the board of trade, Grandmaster of the Odd Fellows, and a lay minister at the Episcopal Church.

Ms. Pepin, along with Jigger Bilodeau, also organized a second float for Saturday’s parade, honoring Elton Ovitt, a 1967 graduate of Brighton High School, who later became a church leader in Florida.  Mr. Ovitt died of COVID-19 this past winter.  July 3, the day of the parade, was his birthday — and a poster on the float read, “Happy Birthday in Heaven to Elton Ovitt.”

Ms. Pepin held hand-written notecards, ready to announce each parade participant who passed between the train station and Veterans Park in the center of Island Pond.

She also set the rules for the hundreds and hundreds of people lining the streets to watch the parade saying, “When the American flag goes by, I expect you to be standing on your feet. Hats should be off your heads and in your hands or over your hearts.”

“This event is dedicated to the veterans — the real heroes in our country,” Ms. Pepin said.

Everybody knew the parade was in motion (about 15 minutes later than the scheduled 11 a.m. start time) when a Civil War cannon boomed from Middle Street before marchers turned right onto Route 105 and crossed the railroad overpass toward the village center.

The cannon was mounted on the lead float, depicting George Washington crossing the Delaware River, a display organized by Dale Verge, who also had a float in the 1975 parade.

Saturday’s parade ran for more than an hour and included a large selection of classic cars, many floats created by local businesses, civic and religious groups, contingents of veterans from the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, as well as a group of about 50 children on bicycles and scooters representing the Island Pond Recreation Department.

When the youngsters went by Ms. Pepin said with pride, “Look at them — that is the future of America right there.”

A short presentation in Veterans Park immediately after the parade included Olin Givens and Katherine Maxwell singing the national anthem and Denise Clough singing “God Bless America” — with many in the surrounding crowd singing along.

State Senator Russ Ingalls of Newport was keynote speaker.

He told the crowd, “I love coming to Island Pond; it’s a community that sticks together.”

Senator Ingalls attributed the strong spirit of the community to the independent local businesses “bearing proud family names.” He described the community as a place where people help each other and take care of each other.

Neal Perry, minister at the Green Mountain Bible Church, opened and closed the event with prayers celebrating the bravery of the nation’s forefathers.

Winding up the presentation, a hearty round of applause was given to Ms. Pepin for all of her years of hard work organizing the annual Independence Day parade.