Upcoming Event - Liberty Pole Capping

We have an event comping up on April 11, 2009. It is the Liberty Pole Capping and will be held in Bedford, MA. Step off will be at 10:30 if anyone wants to come out and watch!

Here are the details:

The parade will step off from the Town common at 10:30 AM and will proceed past the Fitch Tavern where the Bedford unit and dignitaries will acknowledge each unit. The parade will then continue on to Captain Jonathon Wilson Park where the Pole Capping ceremonies will commence.

The traditional pole capping ceremony will commence with a few speeches, then a flaming red sock will be placed on top of a pole just as the Sons of Liberty did in the Revolutionary days as a symbol of freedom from oppression and bondage. The parade will then resume and be led by our guests to a reviewing stand in front of the Bedford Library, from which the guests and officials will accept salutes from the units passing in review. The parade ends at the Bedford High School with a traditional collation for all marchers, dignitaries and their families.

Here is some information from Wikipedia about what a Liberty Pole is:

A Liberty pole is a tall wooden pole, often used as a type of flagstaff, planted in the ground, which may be surmounted by an ensign or a liberty cap (see Phrygian cap).

A liberty pole was often erected in town squares in the years before and during the American Revolution (i.e., Concord, Massachusetts; Newport, Rhode Island; Caughnawaga, New York; Savannah, Georgia). Some colonists erected liberty poles on their own private land (such as in Woburn, Massachusetts - the pole raising there is reenacted annually). An often violent struggle over Liberty Poles erected by the Sons of Liberty in New York City raged for 10 years. The poles were periodically destroyed by the royal authorities (see the Battle of Golden Hill), only to be replaced by the Sons with new ones. The conflict lasted from the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766 until the revolutionary New York Provincial Congress came to power in 1775.[1] The liberty pole in New York City was crowned with a gilt vane bearing the single word, "Liberty".

In some locales - notably in Boston - a Liberty Tree rather than a pole served the same political purpose.

When an ensign was raised (usually red) on a Liberty Pole, it would be a calling for the Sons of Liberty or townspeople to meet and vent or express their views regarding British rule. The pole was known to be a symbol of dissent against Great Britain. The symbol is also apparent in many seals and coats of arms as a sign of liberty, freedom, and independence.

Hope to see you there!