By Seth Daniel

The hills of Everett will be alive with the sounds of music this coming Saturday, July 22, as scores of drum and bugle corps from all over the East Coast will descend upon the city – in a nod to the past – for a colossal parade and competition in honor of the City’s 125th anniversary.

Gene O’Brien, director of music for Everett Public Schools, said the city would be teeming with music on July 22 as drum and bugle corps from all over the area use every open field available for practicing during the day, and then participate in a Parade through the streets and a blockbuster competition at the Stadium during the evening.

“We’re going back in time with this,” he said. “It used to be a phenomenal event for Everett back in the 1970s at the old Stadium. The old Stadium could seat about 18,000 and it used to be full for this event. It was one of the highlights in Everett. This year, Mayor Carlo DeMaria really wanted to make this special and contact Supt. Fred Foresteire. The superintendent asked me to see if we could really bump it up and make it like it was for July 4 about 15 years ago. It’s going to be a great community celebration and all in honor of Everett’s 125th birthday.”

Mayor Carlo DeMaria, the City of Everett, and the Everett School Department will be hosting a parade and drum and bugle competition to celebrate the City’s 125th Anniversary.

The parade will begin on the corner of Elm and Ferry Streets at 4 p.m. and will proceed down Ferry to Broadway to Chelsea and will end at Everett Memorial Stadium. There will be hundreds of marchers including six Macy’s Day Balloons with such characters as Papa Smurf, Birthday Cake, Sun with Glasses, Ernie, Big Bird, and Jazz Fish. At the conclusion of the parade a national drum and bugle competition will take place at Everett Memorial Stadium beginning at approximately 7 p.m.. There will be 16 bands competing.

O’Brien said some of the bands will include seven time champion Long Island Sunrise and the defending national champion Cadets II of Allentown, PA.

“There are going to be about 1,700 marchers in this parade,” he said. “It’s going to be primarily music oriented and not so much the floats. We have homecoming on Sept. 9, so we’ll save the floats for that.”

The parade and competition commemorate the City of Everett’s 125th Anniversary. On January 2, 1893, a Charter was accepted by the Everett Common Council that established the Town of Everett into the City of Everett. To highlight this landmark year several events have been scheduled throughout the year. Mayor DeMaria is proud of the rich history of Everett, and hopes to continue its progress as Mayor throughout this quasquicentennial “Q” year.

“This has been a spectacular year for the City of Everett and I am proud to be Mayor as we celebrate our community’s 125th anniversary,” he said. “I hope everyone will come down and welcome all these wonderful bands to Everett who will bring some thrilling live music both to Broadway and the Stadium. Saturday day/ night will be a wonderful occasion for the whole family to spend some time together. If you haven’t witnessed these giant inflatable characters you should really come down and see them, they are awesome.”

The competition, O’Brien said, is going to be quite an event, and thousands of boosters from the various brigades will be coming to Everett.

One of the key events of the three competitions, he said, would be the Junior International competition for corps with marchers 21 and under. In that, the Spartans (Nashua, NH), the Raiders (Wayne, NJ) and the 7th Regiment would be facing off for one of the few times ever.

“It’s the first time they’ve really gone head to head and they are big rivals,” he said. “It’s going to really put this on the map.”

The gala parade will start at 4 p.m. on July 22nd and will proceed to Everett Stadium. The parade will feature;

• 12 Drum and Bugle Corps
• 20 Characters
• 6 Macy’s Day Balloons
• EHS Crimson Marching Band
• Fire/Police Honor Guard
• Fleet of Fire trucks/ Police vehicles
• Concord Minutemen
• Middlesex County Sheriff’s Department
• Fire Chief Tony Carli & Police Chief Steve Mazzie
• Mayor Carlo DeMaria & Family
• Everett City Council
• Senator Sal DiDomenico & Family
• State Representative Joseph McGonagle
• Superintendent Frederick Foresteire
• Everett School Committee
• U.S. Constitution Company 1st Battalion 181st Infantry
• Babe Ruth impersonator
• Military Unit
• 28th Mass Civil War Regiment
• Boy & Girl Scouts
• Miss Massachusetts
• Miss Pre Teen Massachusetts
• American Red Cross
• Auxiliary Police
• Living History Association
• National Lancers
• North Shore Evangelical Missionary Church
• The Haitian Marching Band
• Gangi Bay State Strutters
• The American Marching Band

Tickets for the competition are available for free. Attendees can download tickets from the City of Everett website or pick-up tickets at Everett City Hall front desk or the Everett High School front office.

There will be ample concessions at the stadium during the show, in addition to a beer truck sponsored by Craft Brewers Guild.