So the Fourth of July has come and gone this year without much official fanfare. No Major League All Star game, no (organized) fireworks displays and no official parades. But more on that later.
While much of the country is making efforts toward getting life back to normal, in fits and starts — mostly fits, it seems — Massachusetts is beginning Phase 3 of its economic reopening plan. I spent part of Saturday, July 4th, photographing a pair of local businesses — a movie theater and a gym — preparing for the return of patrons. Normally on the Fourth, the Gazette covers two local traditions: the Chesterfield 4th of July Parade and, in Northampton, a naturalization ceremony for dozens of new citizens that is held on the lawn of the Hampshire County Courthouse. Fortunately, that joyful ceremony still took place, though the event itself was moved up a couple of days and involved nine immigrants.
Unfortunately, the Chesterfield parade, which draws thousands each year, was canceled months ago. If I’m not on duty and not actually photographing the parade, though, I usually still make it there. In another, hyper-local tradition, a group of us cyclists, sometimes as many as 17, rides up the hill in time to have a pancake breakfast at the Chesterfield Fire Station before the parade. Interestingly, two of my friends, quite independently of each other, happened to be riding through Chesterfield on Saturday — force of habit, I guess. They reported coming across, and participating in, an ad hoc parade that involved a couple of police cars, fire trucks, older cars and muscle cars. The caravan ventured far off the normal route, hitting Damon Pond, Sugar Hill Road and East Street, instead of keeping to Main and South Streets. And it was so rambling that my friends, who arrived and left at different times, didn’t even see each other. But after all these years watching from the sidelines, it looks like our group was finally invited to participate. Unofficially, of course.
Kevin Gutting can be reached at kgutting@gazettenet.com.