Hundreds of Gloucester residents, along with scores of musicians and entertainers marching and riding on floats, paraded through the streets of the seaport Sunday, part of Gloucester’s Holiday Parade & Tree Lighting Ceremony.
The parade kicked off at 3 p.m. and 42 degrees Fahrenheit from the Jodrey State Fish Pier under a cloudy sky.
By parade’s end, the temperature was in the low 30s with the winds whipping the hundreds of spectators gathered for the Tree Lighting at Kent Circle. Hot chocolate was offered to those trying to get warm.
From the parade’s start at the State Fish Pier, the procession’s entrants marched slowly down Parker Street to Main Street, then down Western Avenue.
The Judge’s Float featured Mayor Greg Verga who said the procession was operating smoothly.
“So far, it’s great,” said Verga at the parade’s start.
But a power outage in some parts of Gloucester almost threw the festivities into a tail spin. Joe Ciolino, director of the Gloucester Merchant Association, said the outage prompted action by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to power the tree-lighting ceremony.
“FEMA is bringing in a generator,” Ciolino said Sunday afternoon. “There’ll be lights.”
Just after dusk, the hundreds of lights adorning the tree were lit by 20 children volunteering to flick the myriad switches.
Local musician Alexandra Grace and a group of her students serenaded the crowd at Kent Circle, singing songs such as “Silver Bells” and “Feliz Navidad.”
The tree itself was transported from Nova Scotia to Gloucester by longtime resident Ringo Tarr and others.
State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr served as master of ceremonies at the Tree Lighting Ceremony. The Gloucester Republican told the crowd, that in spite of the power outage, his brother Ringo was determined to make the gathering a reality.
“Ringo is not going to let the power outage stop the celebration at Kent Circle,” Tarr said.
The festivities included an appearance by Santa Claus who rode a Gloucester Fire truck in the parade, and who took time out from his North Pole duties to pose for photos with Gloucester children at the tree lighting. He was joined by Mrs. Claus — Pam Tarantino of Gloucester — who helped lead dozens of Girl Scouts, all members of a number of troops from Gloucester, in the parade.
“I didn’t think I’d make a good Santa so I dressed up as Mrs. Claus,” Tarantino said. “I wanted to make the kids smile. Some of the kids have addressed me as Mrs. Claus.”
The parade’s grand marshals were the chairs of the Gloucester 400th Anniversary Committee: Ruth Pino, Bob Gillis and Bruce Tobey.
According to Ciolino, who serves as “head elf” for the Holiday Parade, the annual, city-wide event ushers in the holidays and gives children something safe and fun to do outside.
He said the parade was designed to move slowly to accommodate the young marchers – including the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, grade school marchers and sports teams. The year’s edition about 10 floats and about six different bands as well as a color guard made up Gloucester High School JROTC students.
“The tree lighting ceremony is another holiday classic celebration where the kids get to throw the switch on the holiday lights and enjoy cocoa, popcorn and pictures,”’ Ciolino said.
Parade entries were juried by Ciolino, who said no political statements or campaigns were allowed. Marchers and floats were required to have a holiday theme and trophies were awarded to the first-, second-, and third-place entrants and honorable mention was also awarded.
One band in Sunday’s procession was the Boston Fireman’s Band. Musician Anthony Balester was a member of the band.
“It’s great,” he said, describing the parade. “It’s great for the community. I’ve been looking forward to it.”
Another float included musicians from East Veterans Elementary School and featured singer Lilly Ginsburg, the daughter of Christina Ursul.
“She just enjoys it,” Ursul said. “It’s great to see her sing. She started in Kindergarten.”
Toward the parade’s end at Kent Circle, longtime Gloucester resident John Orlando was waiting with his family for boats to pass through the Blynman Drawbridge to make his way to Kent Circle.
“I like to see all the people,” he said. “We don’t get to see the people enough. This (event) brings all the people together.”
At Kent Circle, hundreds of residents gathered for the official tree lighting ceremony. A table next to the stage was manned by volunteers, obtaining signatures on holiday cards to be given to senior citizens in area retirement communities.
Lifelong Gloucester resident Andrew Davis, his wife and two children were part of the crowd.
“It’s a lot of fun,” he said of the gathering. “It’s a fun tradition (my children) look forward to.”
The Tarr family has been organizing the Tree Lighting Ceremony for years. Tarr family members and other volunteers, led by Ringo Tarr, travel each year to Gloucester’s sister city, Shelburne, Nova Scotia, to get the tree.
The tree exchange began more than 25 years ago when Gloucester needed a tree. At the time, the mayor of Shelbourne was visiting the city and decided to donate the first tree. In turn, Gloucester donates trees for public parks to the city of Shelbourne.
For Ciolino, the best part of the Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting Ceremony was seeing the reactions of the children enjoying all the pageantry. He said the events help to create traditions for families on Cape Ann.
“I see every year the faces of the parade watchers of all ages smile, kids scattering to get candy. and everyone enjoying the music and floats.”
Stephen Hagan can be reached at 978-675-2708 or at [email protected].
