The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-07-06
At
NO. BENNINGTON
WAS SUCCESS
Best In Years Held at the North
Village
WAS NOT SAFE AND SANE
Good Old Fashioned Affair Well Dir
ected and Free From all
UnweIcome Features

The Fourth or July celeDratlOn at
North Bennington was glorious sue
cess. The village was decorated with
flags and bunting and presented ga
la appearance, some of the business
blocks and houses in special good
taste. The decoration of the village
would have been much more com
plete If the merchants could have pro
cured the bunting.
At ten o'clock the parade was form
ed At the head was Uncle Sam and
two Samlets, then the band, the fire
company following; after these the
automobiles, the carriages, the floats
and last, but not least, the unique
and grotesque array of horribles; of
these last all language fails to speak
their worth as ii does of the famous
Elite band from Hartford. or Heart
break, Conn. The parade was three
fourths of mile long. 1t surprised
all by its excellence and the number
participating therein.
The prizes were awarder as fol-
lows: For decorated automobiles,
first prize, No 3; second, No. s; third
No. 5; floats. first prize, No. 2, sec
ond No. /, third, No. 4; double car
riages, first PRIZE No. 6, second, No.
/, third, No. A. single carriages, first
prize, No. 4, second No. 2, third, No.
6; horribles, first prize No. /, second
No. 10, third No -. The names of
the winners will be published later.
At eleven o'clock the exercises up
on the Green were held. America
was sung with band accompaniment,
declaration of Independence was
read by Senators H. T. Cushman, de-
carnations given by the following
children; Our First Flag, Helen
Walsh: Firecrackers Friedrich Knapp
An Interesting Relative, Florence
White; A Good Country. Marion Sper-
ling: Our Flag. Barbara Rich. The
children spoke well and could be
heard too. The Star Spangied Ban
ner was sung by +. II Dow, the band
accompanying. This was we'll sung
and much appreciated by all. Rev.
T. n. Dow, ID. d.. gave the address of
the day. reviewing in an interesting
way our national history. showing
our progress and evelopment. This
was full of good thought and gave
the meaning of the day Sixteen
girls, in white. with flags, gave the
Columbian drill, concluding by form
ing lines and singing Columbia, the
Gem of the Ocean" This was a very
attractive feature of the xercises.
In the afternoon at 1880 the athlet-
ic contests took place. The men and
boys entered eagerly into the con-
tests and furnished much sport. The
winners were as follows: 100 yds
dash. Bonuning first; Worthington.
second; Hall, third. Dash for boys
under twelve, Mooney, first; Downer
second; McGraw, third Dash for
boyssixteen or under, Millington, first
Noyes. second: Hail. third. Fat
mems race, Cushman. first; Gleason,
second; Robert White, third. 220
yds. dash, Booming first; Leslie
White. second; Powers, third. Three
legged race, Fleming and Waldron.
first; McGraw and Mattison, second !:
Money and Hewson, third. Sack
race, Mooney, first; Bottum, second:
Brown, third. Obstacle race. Kenyon
first; Fleming. second; Harrington,
third Creased pig was won by Tom
my Hewson. Tug of war was won
by the representatives of Fairview
farm. Potato race. Milington, first;
Downer, second; Daley. third.
At four o'clock the baseball game.
married men VS.. single men, was
played and to their everlasting cred.
Ii and honor the married fellows won.
showing they are well trained to
running at home. The score was l3
TO 10.
The band concert in the evening
was enjoyed by a large number of
people. The band played we'll and
did their full part toward the sue
cess of the day. There was a crowd
OF several hundred at the concert and
fireworks.
The day closed with a magnificent
display Of fireworks as good as this
section has seen for several years.
With this fine display the day closed
in light and glory.
This celebration was a successful
example Of a celebration for the
people by the people" There was no
drunkenness. no disorder and no &C
cident of any kind. We had good
weather. good day and a good time
The safe and sane" Fourth some
people may have. IL they wish; but
North Bennington stands for the old
fashioned Fourth, wisely controlled
and directed
There we're beautiful floats and de-
corated automobiles and carriages.
some good take-offs. and some decor
ated houses. as well as some feat
ures Of the day, deserving of special
mention; but in a report like this we
are obliged 10 omit all names. How.
ever the executive committee wish TO
express their thanks TO those indiv.
iduals who gave time and effort 10
planning, organizing and conducting
20 successful issue the various feat.
ures Of the day. also to express their
appreciation Of the effort shown by
individuals in the decoration Of their
places. to give their thanks to the
band for their loyalty and help. and
TO the fire company for turning out
so fully, and to the friends. sOjourn.
ing In our midst. who so freely and
| splendidly helped
The success Of the celebration vas
not due to any mall group. nor "a