NEWS

Gaspee Days come again: 58 years and still going strong

Posted 6/1/23

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Attention subscribers

We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.

If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.

Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.

NEWS

Gaspee Days come again: 58 years and still going strong

MARCHING STRONG: The Pawtuxet Rangers, one of the oldest chartered military militias in the country, march to celebrate the Gaspee Days festival. With the celebration going on all the way through June 11, those attending can still look forward to a host of wonderful attractions. June 3 will bring the Warwick Symphony Orchestra to Pawtuxet Park at 5:30 p.m. to entertain crowds with music and then fireworks will light up Salter’s Grove, Warwick, starting at 9:30 p.m. The final weekend of Gaspee takes place over Saturday June 10 and Sunday June 11. Events will include Ecumenical Services from Trinity Episcopal Church and a Gaspee Days 5K race on Saturday before the annual Gaspee Days Parade, which begins at 10 a.m. and travels the length of Narragansett Parkway in Warwick. Sunday will bring the Blessing of the Fleet at Rhode Island Yacht Club at 11 a.m., several events in Pawtuxet park, such as Sunday in the Park with live music and food at noon, a raffle drawing at 3 p.m. and the traditional Burning of the Gaspee at 4 p.m. More photos on page 7. (Photo by Steve Popiel)

NO BULL HERE: Nine-year-old Skylah Lemoi screams with joy as she holds desperately on for her first mechanical bull ride. (Photo by Steve Popiel)

CHARTING A BUSINESS: William MacGregor, who calls himself a nautical chart artist, uses charts for the canvases of many of his paintings. Appropriately, this one of the burning of the HMS Gaspee in 1772 is painted on a chart of the shoal where colonials set her ablaze. MacGregor formerly lived outside Boston that trumpets the Boston Tea Party as the first act of insurrection. “But,” says MacGregor, “we moved down here and heard the truth.”

ALWAYS POPULAR: Toni Andersen of Warwick barely paused from the moment the Gaspee Days Arts and Crafts officially opened Saturday morning. Her face paintings delighted kids of all ages including Violet who is pictured here. As typically the case, parents ask how they wash faces clean and kids protest when they learn they won’t last .

PREVIEW: Rhode Island Mermaid Alyssa was accompanied by her daughter Autumn to promote her upcoming performances in a 2,400 gallon tank that can be set up at event venues. Alyssa caught the attention of festival visitors who asked to be photographed with her. Predictably, her business is named The Rhode Island Mermaid. (Cranston Herald photos)

GEARED UP AND READY: Pawtuxet Rangers quartermaster Rachel Sczurek looks from a Rangers cutout that was featured at display. The Rangers have a full slate of activities as the Gaspee Days celebration commemorates wthe 251 anniversary of the British ship as she was fast aground on the shoals of Namquid Point, now Gaspee Point.