The Fourth of July weekend, off to a quiet start with festivities dampened by heavy rain and winds, was relatively quiet for police, but busy for the Steamship Authority. The weekend began with wind and rain associated with Hurricane Arthur.

The parade is a lesser known but well-loved Island tradition. At least 150 marchers and spectators turned out for the parade on Saturday, which marched down Old South Road and ended at Philbin Beach, where kids followed a treasure map and dug up a chest full of candy.

They rode on creatively crafted floats, walked, danced, rollerbladed and drove antique cars, trucks and bicycles. Children raced to collect candy hurled into the streets. Fire trucks sprayed water to cool down the crowd. And the Fourth of July celebration in Edgartown was declared a great success.

Flags were hung and picnics prepared, but many Fourth of July festivities, including the centerpiece Edgartown parade and fireworks, had been postponed by a day as the first hurricane of the season approached the northeast.

With two hours to go until parade time, the sun shone on the lines of brightly-decorated floats that filled the parking lot of the Edgartown School Thursday afternoon. Their occupants, which included members of organizations from across the Island, milled about. When the time came to begin, the parade started with a bang — literally.

The whistling of fifes, the crack of baseball bats, the streak of fireworks in the night sky — the Island's streets will swell today with the sounds of the Fourth of July.

When the clock on the Old Whaling Church strikes 5 p.m. on the Fourth of July, you can bet the annual Edgartown Fourth of July parade will be underway.

No matter that longtime grand marshal Fred B. Morgan Jr., a stickler for punctuality, has passed the torch to Joseph E. Sollitto Jr. Not much will change, least of all the prompt start.

The Gazette turns back the page in this week’s edition as it revisits the Harris Poll, a first-of-its-kind scientific public opinion survey the results of which were published by this newspaper twenty-five years ago. What follows is an editorial from July 4, 1987, the year the Harris Poll survey was taken.

Aquinnah celebrates the Fourth of July with its 10th annual children’s parade. Floats, antique cars, face painting, music, buried treasure on the beach and town officials will all be part of the festivities.

The parade starts at 11 a.m. sharp at the top of Old South Road.

Even though the sun took the Fourth of July off, people
across the Island found plenty of ways to celebrate Independence
Day.

The sharp breezes and daunting sky kept folks off the beach.
A survey of Norton Point Beach at midday showed only a handful
of people, most of whom traded sunblock for sweaters. In fact,
more state police than vacationers braved that territory.

The weather and slow morning nudged people toward their
favorite restaurants for a leisurely breakfast.