Eight-year-old Alex Strenta of Hanover was quick to tell The Dartmouth that he had no special feelings about the Fourth of July, but he was very sure about one thing: "I like the egg toss," he said.
While most students on campus snoozed away Independence Day morning, townies flooded Main Street and the Green dressed in full red, white and blue to celebrate Hanover's eighth annual "Old-Fashioned Fourth of July."
The morning's events commenced at 10 a.m. with the parade, which began at Thompson Arena and traveled down Lebanon Street to its final destination, the corner of Wheelock Street and Main Street, where a throng of families and bystanders waited with cheering children and waving flags.
Impatient for the action to start, one toddler tried to unravel a flag almost her size by stabbing it back and forth in the air. Unsuccessful, she then resorted to beating the flag on the pavement.
"No, no, no!" chided her mother. "The rule is, the flag can never touch the ground."
The parade officially began when Etna and Hanover fire trucks squealed into view. They were followed by Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. A bevy of scout leaders trailed behind the bubble-gum-throwing teenagers.
"I was in the military and I love the country," Cub Scout Master Mike Campbell said. "I think that anything that has to do with celebrating the country is important."
Kristen Clarkson, a recent graduate of Hanover High School, sported a patriotic ensemble of red baggy pants, a blue shirt, red and blue hula leis and a long white sparkly boa. She threw out red and white candy from a decorated truck with Youth in Action, a community service group for high school students.
Lyme Angler sponsored a 1926 Pneumatic Calliope, one of only 15 left in existence, and its red circus-like car tooted down the road at the musical whims of callopist Jack Snyder.
A juggling clown on a unicycle, some young bicyclists and a few campaigning politicians finished off the parade.
Afterwards, the party shuffled over to the Green, where Parade Coordinator Christine Vitale emceed the opening ceremonies. Scouts followed her speech with the Pledge of Allegiance and the North Country Cordsmen sang their rendition of "God Bless America."
Entertainment was free for all on the Green, provided by the Foggy Mountain Cloggers, who clog year round at fairs and nursing homes. The group instructor and founder Roger Young served in the Navy during the Vietnam War.
"I think it's a nice remembrance of the people who fought and gave us the freedom we have today," he said.
Across from Parkhurst Hall, the farmers of Norwich set up a makeshift petting zoo on the Green. And at 2600 pounds each, two cream-colored Burham oxen, Dick and Dan, were by far the largest attraction.
"They are a pulley competition team," said their owner Raymond Swift.
According to Swift, Dick and Dan's guest appearance at Hanover's Fourth of July celebration was one of the most glamorous aspects of being pulley team competitors. But the incessant patting and poking from curious children did not seem to delight the two oxen much.
Eventually, even a few Dartmouth students were on-hand to observe the traditional Hanover festivities from the safety of the Collis Porch.
California native Colleen Corcoran '01 remembered spending her July Fourths at Lake Tahoe to see the fireworks there.
However, what she really remembered was that they never worked, and usually around midnight her family would just pack up and go home.
International student Warangkhana Songsungthong '02 found the American customs of dressing up and going to parades an interesting way to celebrate the Independence holiday. She said that while there was no equivalent to the Fourth of July in her home country of Thailand, they do light fireworks for the king's birthday and New Year's.
Some also expressed appreciation for the more practical side of the national holiday.
"It's good to have a day off," Corcoran said.
