Though quite a bit smaller than the 231-year-old celebration in Bristol, Independence Day ceremonies in Newport drew a healthy crowd.
The Newport Community Band played “The Star-Spangled Banner” to a gathering of several hundred at the city’s historic Washington Square. The large green near downtown once served as the heart of colonial Newport.
Tourists and residents alike gathered to hear patriotic tunes, the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence and witness a 21-gun salute with cannon fire. Among them was Newport resident Rafael Giarnella.
“I don’t think there’s anywhere really more Patriotic than doing that in Newport,” said Giarnella. “And to see where history happened, and to be a part of it is just awesome.”
The more reverent moments of the day were tempered by events like a bicycle parade and a good old-fashioned pie-eating contest, for which Lynn Tungett busily assembled red, white, and blue pies.
“Cherries on top, and then the whipped cream, and they eat them without their hands,” said Tungett. One race pitted a father against his young son, as a small crowd cheered on.
The music and festivities had Celeste Cutrone, who was visiting with family from Long Island, feeling especially patriotic.
“It’s fabulous,” said Cutrone. “It’s just Americana all the way. It’s beautiful.”
Most had come for the annual reading of the Declaration of Independence on the steps of the Colony House. Sitting at the head of Washington Square, the building was constructed in 1739 and served as Rhode Island’s first Statehouse.
The Declaration of Independence was first read aloud from the Colony house some weeks after its signing in 1776. This year Roy Lawth, a member of the Newport Artillery Company, read the nation’s founding document.
Portsmouth resident Carol Mcosker caught the reading, and said it was a good reminder of the country’s history, especially during a heated political season.
“We should never forget what we stand for,” said Mcosker. “And I know that we get a little crazy during political times, but we know that it’ll keep going on.”
The reading was followed by a 21-gun salute, conducted by an artillery company, which was founded in 1741, making it one of the oldest in the country. Dressed in authentic colonial-era military uniforms, the group shot 21 blanks out of four bronze cannons cast in Paul Revere’s foundry in 1798.
