Gaspee Days Parade in Warwick, Rhode Island

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GASPEE DAYS PARADE

Gaspee Days Parade in Warwick, Rhode Island

Update (3/23/2000): George Carroll Whipple III, host of Whipple's World on television station NY1 in New York City, has volunteered to portray Commodore Abraham Whipple in the Gaspee Days Parade. Other parade volunteers are still needed. Email gaspee@whipple.org if you are interested!

Update (3/28/2000): Please send inquiries regarding travel and accommodations in Warwick to the director of Warwick tourism, Karen Jedson (kjedson@warwickri.com).

Do you like a parade? Do you like to be in parades? If so, read on.

Among the very early cases of violent resistance leading up to the Revolutionary war was the burning of H.M.S. Gaspee and the shooting of her captain by the colonists, on June 9, 1772. Captain (later Commodore) Abraham Whipple led the attack; Joseph Bucklin fired the shot that wounded William Dudingston, the captain of the Gaspee.

This year, Warwick, Rhode Island's Gaspee Days Celebration begins April 29 and continues through June 11. The 35th Annual Gaspee Days Parade will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 10, 2000.

John Concannon (jconcannon@home.com), the webmaster of www.gaspee.com, contacted the Whipple Website and the Bucklin web site in late February, inviting Whipples and Bucklins to participate in this year's parade. John writes that the committee is unanimously in favor of inviting both the Whipples and Bucklins to the Gaspee Parade this year. His note makes the following points:

They would put us on a float of the Crew that Burned the Gaspee.
They would like us to wear period costume of the Colonial time.
They could probably scrounge up a musket for the Bucklin clan to fire.
Abraham Whipple would bear a sword.
They also propose that one of our clan(s) portray Lt. Dudingston himself.

They are interested in your ideas.

It isn't clear from the note exactly how many Whipples and Bucklins are wanted for the float. (Minimally, three persons are needed--to represent Abraham Whipple, Joseph Bucklin and William Dudingston--but they might need an entire crew.)

If any of you are interested in portraying Abraham Whipple or William Dudingston in the parade, or if you have questions or comments about the event, we invite you to contact the Whipple Website by sending email to gaspee@whipple.org. More information will appear on the Whipple Website as it becomes available.

The Gaspee Days committee will help coordinate your trip for you, but the hotel and travel expenses will be your own.

For further information, visit these sites:


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