BRATTLEBORO — It started with a barefoot naked man, doused with fake blood and walking down the middle of Main Street.
It ended with politicians, a faux nuclear waste cask, pro-abortion marchers, and the latest fashion stylings of Alfred Hughes Jr.
Welcome to the Fourth of July in downtown Brattleboro, as the first Independence Day parade held since 2019 showed the town in all of its infinite variety.
The 49th edition of “By the People: Brattleboro Goes Fourth” offered the traditional patriotic displays of the U.S. flag, from the oversized version carried by a phalanx of Brattleboro Elks Club members to the tiny flags handed out by parade organizers to spectators.
Nolan Goodnow, the young boy who helped save his family during a December house fire [“Local preschooler saves family from perishing in fire,” News, Dec. 22, 2021], rode as the guest of honor as the parade's grand marshal.
Flatbed trailers filled with young baseball players passed by, as did a motorcycle procession by the New Hampshire Patriot Guard, a veterans' organization.
There were firetrucks from Guilford, West Dummerston, Chesterfield, N.H., and Brattleboro, and a Golden Cross ambulance made its parade debut, four days after taking over EMS responsibilities from Rescue Inc.
From baton twirlers to the American Legion and Brattleboro Union High School bands, all the elements of a July 4 parade were in place, though live broadcast of the event by Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV) was abruptly cancelled when Covid hit the local access cable studio, affecting staff availability.
BCTV staff did film the parade and will broadcast it next week on channel 1075 next week, according to the station's website.
The event was also shorter this year after organizers chose to start it from Flat Street, rather than from the BUHS parking lot.
After the morning parade, there were concerts, family activities, and the renewal of the Small Fry baseball all-star game leading up to an evening fireworks display at Living Memorial Park.
A 'small, but visible, gesture'
And it all started with a barefoot naked man, doused with fake blood, walking down the middle of Main Street.
In an email he sent to news organizations minutes before started his stroll at 10 a.m, just before the parade kicked off from the Flat Street staging area, Ivan Hennessy of Brattleboro wrote that he intended to “undress, douse myself in fake blood and walk from the Brattleboro Common to Plaza Park.”
Why?
“I cannot tolerate my own inaction any longer in the face of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The Supreme Court's rejection of medical privacy and bodily autonomy is not the only terrible injustice I've seen our government embrace,” Hennessy wrote.
“Fortunately,” he added, “a strong majority of us understand that forced birth is appallingly cruel and morally grotesque.”
Hennessy, the great-grandson of Catholic activist Dorothy Day, wrote that he hoped that “this small, but visible, gesture encourages others who have hesitated to act beyond voting and writing to legislators. We can join those who are already doing more.”
When reached by The Commons, Hennessy responded that the reaction to his protest “was mixed, which is not surprising,” but he said that he did reach Plaza Park.
While public nudity is illegal in Brattleboro, police did not take Hennessy into custody.