RobertXGillis

RobertXGillis

25+ years of published Op/Ed columns, professional photography, my first book and more from the 28 known galaxies!

RobertXGillis
  • About Me
  • My professional photography
  • Nana – my first published book
  • Gillis Photo and Nana Videos
  • Site Map
  • Nativity

Foxboro Founders Day 2000

  • Foxboro
  • Foxboro Founders Day
Bob Gillis and Bob Shea, Founders Day, 2001
Bob Gillis and Bob Shea, Founders Day, 2001

Robert Gillis
Published in The Foxboro Reporter June 2000

Well, let’s start this Founders Day column with two shocking confessions: First, I did something stupid Founders Day morning, and second, this is the first time I’ve actually watched a Founders Day parade in its entirety.

First, the stupid thing. I arrived early for the parade and parked off the railroad tracks, walked about 10 feet from my car and realized that not only had I locked the keys in the thing, but it was still running. I make this embarrassing announcement in hopes of quelling the giggles I’m already getting from friends and family about this blunder. After the parade, my buddy Scott from Central Garage, who’s already helped me out of a few car problems, did his usual excellent work and had me back in the car in seconds.

Anyway, this brings us to shocking confession number two – although I’ve lived in town nearly ten years, each Founder’s Day I would either be occupied, or my old job at the bank had an audit that week-end. So this was my FIRST Founders Day parade where I just arrived, sat, and watched the parade in it entirety.

Now, I’ve seem a lot of parades before – most of us have, and they are all pretty much the same – bands, floats, the usual.

But the Foxboro parade is special because there’s a huge amount of town pride on display. That’s especially evident in the care that goes into creating the impressive floats, as well as the hand-drawn signs and other decorations.

It was with genuine enjoyment I took in last Saturday’s Founders Day parade. The number of people didn’t overwhelm me; I know that previous year’s attendance has been measured around 8000; I don’t think there was a quarter that many people there. What’s up with that, people?

Still, the air was charged with excitement as the familiar blast of the fire engines began. Whether vintage engine or modern fire fighting equipment, the vehicles shined in the beautiful warm sunshine. And I was amused to see that many of the fire/rescue and police vehicles had little children riding in them, enjoying the attention and waving to everyone. In the police cars, the children often wore the department caps. Future law enforcement!

Many of the floats were excellent. I’m partial to the Jaycees birthday Foxboro birthday cake (a winning entry, by the way), and also was very impressed by the four seasons float, featuring Christmas, Halloween, Fourth of July and Saint Patrick’s day themes. The woman standing next to me agreed, it was too early to think about Christmas – the TV ads won’t be starting until next month.

The bands were excellent – the high school kids, the police band, the veterans from the post, and especially the bagpipers – I felt my Celtic heritage when they passed by! Each was dressed in their best, and played flawlessly.

I was touched by the involvement of the little kids – the Scouts and Brownies were well represented, many gave out candy, and some had silly string. The kids from Personal Best were looking sleek in their uniforms – although I did pause to reflect that these little children probably could kick my butt with their karate skills! Very impressive.

The Foxboro seniors were well represented by Lorraine Garland and a beautiful float followed by the (still) new Van Go. Many seniors rode the COA float, with others marching by it.

One float that floored me was the simple one simulating a cemetery of green grass with the white crosses listing fallen veterans. Very poignant.

In all, an amazing event. As the final cars passed by, the Founder’s Day committee was waving at everyone. Karl Kusch, Ginny Coppola and the other members were smiling but looked tired. “Thank you!” I yelled. There’s so few people on that committee – much like the Discretionary Fund, the late Foxboro First Night committee, and several other groups – just a handful of people pulling off a Herculean effort year after year. The logistics must be mind-boggling.

We appreciate it, folks. We really do.

The activities at the Booth playground offered something for everyone, but of course the fireworks were the main draw. I must say with no hyperbole that last Saturday’s pyrotechnic display was one of the best – if not the best – -I have ever seen. To be truthful, some previous Founders Day fireworks have been good, but not great. This one – especially the phenomenal finale – literally knocked my socks off!

So to everyone who was involved with this successful Founders Day, our deepest thanks. I hope that next year more people turn out for the parade. Seeing it in its entirety this year, I feel I’ve missed something these past years. If you weren’t there Saturday, you missed something special too. Make it a point to go next year – just be sure that you have your car keys in hand before you lock the car.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Related Posts via Categories

  • Top 10 reasons to come to Foxborough Founders Day!
  • Foxboro Founders Day turns 25!
  • Foxboro Founders Day 2011!
  • Foxboro Founders Day 2009
  • America 2020: Protests, Violence, Racism — Divided We Fall
  • New Electronic Sign For The Marilyn Rodman Performing Arts Center / Orpheum Theater Deserves A YES Vote At Town Meeting
  • Twenty-Five takeaways from Sunday’s Patriots Super Bowl sendoff rally, Sunday January 28, 2019
  • Thoughts and gratitude after the March 2018 Massachusetts Nor’easter
  • Why Local Newspapers Are So Important
  • Foxborough Founders day Saturday June 10, 2017: Come to the Birthday Party!
Spread the love
June 1, 2000 Robert Gillis 0

Post navigation

Jaycees and Other Volunteers in Foxboro → ← Memorial Day 2000

My Professional Photography

Buy My Book!

Go to Nana Book website

Follow Me!

  • Facebook

RobertXGillis.com Categories (Drop Down Menu)!

Category Cloudy Thingy!

A must read Avoiding Fraud Backstreets Boston Bruce Springsteen Catholic / Church Christmas CNN image Computers / Tech Current Events / News Commentary Current News Story Parody and Humor Dorchester Foxboro Foxboro Founders Day Foxboro Jaycees Foxboro Jaycees Haunted House Foxboro Reporter Image Halloween Holidays - Other Humor Life events, Gratitude and Giving and Little Miracles Mass Shootings Memorials Movies Music My fiction (80s/90s) Nana Book NASA Image New Hampshire News image from Web New Year Not The Best Pets Politics Scanned From Newspaper Microfilm Seniors September 11, 2001 Slow News Day Humor Sports Star Trek Superman Superman and Friends - Comic Book Humor and Parody Television Uncategorized Web / Email / Internet / Social Media

Robert Gillis Site Archives From the 28 Known Galaxies

Weekly Popular!

  • A dream come true, meeting Joanna Cameron, star of… (44)
  • Memo: Cost-cutting measures during these tough… (10)
  • Memories of an Intensive Care Nursery at Saint… (10)
  • A loss too deep for words: Remembering Lorraine and… (8)
  • Grieving the Saint Kevin’s Property (8)
  • Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, you betcha! (8)
  • Memories of Halloween (5)
  • An interview with Joanna Levesque, aka “JoJo” (5)
  • Katy Perry’s “Firework:” A message every teen needs to hear (5)
  • Play the TV News Snow Game! (Global Warming… (5)
  • An historical quest fulfilled: Finding the Willey… (4)
  • Silver Age Comics: Spanking your super kids, a great… (4)
  • You can go home again; my visit to Dorchester and… (3)
  • Letter I wrote to DC Comics when Superman died (3)
  • More Silver-Age Lois Lane comic book madness! (3)
  • Retro-Review: A Christmas Carol (1938) starring… (3)
  • Review: SUPERMAN II: THE RICHARD DONNER CUT (3)
  • Silver Age Comic Books: Superman stops the… (3)
  • What was the Silver Age of comic books? Superman,… (3)
  • Dinner with Mom brings back Memories of Christmas Past (3)
  • Almost completed: The WMJX 106.7 “Magic of… (2)
  • In loving memory of Father John Joseph Kierce (2)
  • Review: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN WITH THE SEEGER SESSIONS… (2)
  • The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in… (2)
  • The Weakest Link (2)
  • Popular posts by Top 10 plugin

Most Popular On This Site!

  • A dream come true, meeting Joanna Cameron, star of… (16,743)
  • An interview with Joanna Levesque, aka “JoJo” (6,155)
  • A letter to Mom on Christmas Day (3,656)
  • Memo: Cost-cutting measures during these tough… (3,307)
  • Silver Age Comics: Spanking your super kids, a great… (2,726)
  • Memories of an Intensive Care Nursery at Saint… (2,334)
  • Thoughts on visiting seven churches on Holy Thursday (1,716)
  • Father Steve Madden leaving Saint Mary’s… (1,625)
  • Grieving the Saint Kevin’s Property (1,536)
  • The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in… (1,514)
  • The customer, most assuredly, is NOT always right: A… (1,397)
  • More Lucy Lane and Lois Lane Silver-Age Comics Sillyness! (1,213)
  • Katy Perry’s “Firework:” A message every teen needs to hear (1,044)
  • Silver-Age Comics fun: Going to the chapel, and… (1,042)
  • What was the Silver Age of comic books? Superman,… (1,038)
  • Popular posts by Top 10 plugin

Copyright and Legal

All site content copyright © 2020 by Robert Gillis except where specifically noted. All rights reserved. THIS IS A PERSONAL WEBLOG (“BLOG”). THE OPINIONS AND COMMENTARY EXPRESSED HERE REPRESENT MY OWN AND ARE NOT THOSE OF MY EMPLOYERS (PAST, PRESENT NOR FUTURE).

About images:

I do my best to use my own photos to illustrate a post (and copyright to all my images remains with me), but sometimes I need to use an image from, say, a sports logo, a TV show or movie, or something I could not possibly get on my own, for example, an image of the international space station. I always credit the original owner (if they can be determined) but in ALL cases, whether credited or not, any images I didn’t photograph myself remain the property of the original copyright holders. This site does not imply any ownership of such images or materials, and such images are used here for commentary / illustrative / entertainment purposes only, under what is believed to be fair use guidelines, and absolutely no copyright infringement is intended.

Powered by WordPress | theme SG Double