by Geri Williams

At least 17 boats participated in the Annual 4th of July Herring Pond Boat Parade restarted by the Nichols Family 3 years ago. There was so much hooting, flag waving, music and enjoyment from those in the participating boats, and from the hundreds of people enjoying the festivities from shore.

Most of the boats were decorated with flags and other patriotic items, but several had very creative and imaginative themes. In addition to the Christensen’s Fire Boat which actually sprayed water from a hose, there was the Nichols’ Pirate Ship with a dog skeleton walking the plank and a human skeleton in the crow’s nest. The O’Brien’s boat was decked out as the SS Minnow with all the characters from Gilligan’s Island. The Williams grandchildren inspired by the red, white and blue cowboy hats grandma Geri bought, created huge bull horns to put on the front of their boat and labeled it ‘The Bull Ship’.

Jed Smith and his family had the difficult job of selecting the most creative and most patriotic entries. They were wowed by the hose spraying water and ladder, flashing lights and sirens of the Fire Boat and selected it the most creative. I’ve included a photo of the most patriotic, but we weren’t able to identify the owners. The judges selected the Pirate Boat for the Hall of Fame. Because there were so many festively decorated boats they added some additional honors: the Epic Boat was Theresa Dorr as Old Man and the Sea and the Spirit Boat was the Williams boat.

Here are some photos courtesy of Jed Smith and Nick Fiori, in case you missed the parade, and to inspire you to join in the fun next year.