Lyme’s Fourth of July Tradition Shines in America250 Celebration

LYME, CT – Lyme’s once-impromptu Fourth of July parade turned into the centerpiece of the town’s America250 celebration as residents celebrated longstanding traditions with a procession from the top of Cove Road to the Lyme Grange.

The nation was not yet 200 years old when the late Dr. William D. Irving first gathered his family “on a whim” for an Independence Day march to the cove. He ended by tossing tea bags from the bridge in deference to the Boston Tea Party and its call for no taxation without representation, a flourish he repeated for decades as his audience grew to encompass much of Lyme.

This year’s parade marshal was former state Rep. Claire Sauer, who served from 1994 to 2000 in a district that then comprised Lyme, Chester, Deep River and parts of Essex and Old Saybrook. The first woman elected to the Lyme Board of Selectmen, Sauer beamed from the passenger seat of George Willauer’s 1935 Packard Roadster as the parade proceeded under sunny skies and an extreme heat warning.

Lyme’s semiquincentennial Fourth of July parade started promptly at about 10 o’clock, as Dr. Irving was known to joke, and lasted 12 minutes.

Recreation Commission Chair Bob Cope presided over the free barbecue at the Lyme Grange, where 160 hamburgers and 140 hot dogs flew off the grill. He said this year’s America250 festivities tripled the commission’s typical $1,200 July 4 budget after the commission added a live band, a tent, a new grill and a shaved ice truck to the celebration.

“We wanted to go big for the semiquincentennial,” he said, while emphasizing the traditionally streamlined schedule continues to leave residents plenty of time to carry out their own holiday plans.

“Everyone gets to see small-town Americana,” he said. “Then the whole thing’s done by noon.”

A reading of the Declaration of Independence by members of the Lyme Veterans Memorial Committee highlighted the 42 Revolutionary War veterans known to be buried in Lyme, including eight killed in action. The ceremony included a live rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” by Sawyer Gregory, lead guitarist for the local band LymeLyte.

The day’s events also included a patriotic sing-along at the First Congregational Church of Lyme, a commemorative tree planting led by the Lyme Garden Club and a Revolutionary War-era music program at the Lyme Public Library.