Lacey Selected as Grand Marshal as Westerly-Pawcatuck Columbus Day Parade Makes a Comeback – Update

WESTERLY — If there’s anyone who understands the importance of keeping traditions alive in small towns, it’s Westerly native Joseph H. Potter, the 90-year-old former banker largely responsible for the return of the Westerly-Pawcatuck Columbus Day Parade, set to take place on Sunday, Oct. 8, after a three-year hiatus.

“We’re happy to be bringing such an important tradition back,” said Potter, the longtime president of the Permanent Columbus Day Committee, in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon. “And, the theme of the parade is ‘Keeping our Traditions Alive.'”

Potter, the Dante Society of Westerly’s 2017 Person of the Year — whose legacy of public service includes a 34-year tenure as moderator of the Westerly Fire District, a six-year stint serving Westerly in the Rhode Island House of Representatives, and years as Westerly town treasurer and president of the Rotary Club of Westerly — has been the driving force behind the parade’s return.

The 73rd annual Westerly-Pawcatuck Columbus Day Parade was postponed back in 2020, one of the many events that fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic plaguing the country at the time.

“So many, many people have been asking when the parade is coming back,” said Potter. “So we’re happy for everyone.

“The community needed it to happen,” he added, noting that when he and his fellow committee members met during the summer, they all agreed the time had come.

“We couldn’t let such an important tradition go by the wayside,” concurred longtime parade committee member Jeffrey Frenette Thursday night in a phone interview. “When Joe said, ‘We’re going to do it,’ we all agreed.”

Frenette and his wife, Beth, who is also a longtime committee member, have devoted more than 40 years combined to the parade effort.

Frenette said it was at that same meeting when the committee decided to ask Westerly Town Manager Shawn Lacey to serve as the parade’s grand marshal.

“We’re so pleased Shawn accepted,” Potter said. “He’s been so helpful to us and he is doing such an outstanding job leading the town.

“His heart and his soul are in this town and it shows,” Potter added. “We really wanted to honor him.”

“I’m honored,” said Lacey Friday night on the telephone as he drove home from work. “I’m delighted that I was ever even considered.”

Lacey, a lifelong Westerly resident, has participated in the legendary parade for most of his life.

As a youngster, he said, he marched with his fellow Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. Later, he marched as a member of the honor guard, then as a member of the Westerly Police Department.

“It’s been a big part of my life,” Lacey said.

“It’s great to acknowledge our town manager,” said Westerly Town Councilor Kevin Lowther in a phone interview Friday morning. “He’s so invested in this town.”

The parade, Lowther went on, “is a great way to bring the community together.”

“It’s a fantastic cultural tradition,” he said, “and a fantastic way to meet and get to know your neighbors.”

Lowther, who marched in several Westerly-Pawcatuck Columbus Day Parades as a student at Westerly High School when he was a member of the school band, said he marched in the parade again in 2019 after his return from the army.

“It was a great way to reintroduce myself to the community,” said Lowther, a musician known widely for playing hip-hop violin as Big Lux. “I’m glad it will carry on.”

“It takes a lot of people to put it on,” Potter pointed out, noting that officials from both Westerly and Stonington come together to pull off such an event.

“We also have several honored citizens,” Potter said, noting that the committee invited Westerly residents Patricia and Alcino Almeida, Betty-Jo Cugini-Greene and Medera and Palma Trombino to be honored citizens in this year’s parade.

Even though there will be fewer bands participating this year, Potter said — the pandemic took its toll on many of the groups that have traditionally marched in the parade — there will be plenty of participants and several bands.

“Of course, the Westerly Band will lead them all,” Potter said. “They have been with us since the beginning.”

The parade, Lacey said, is a great community event, on that unites people, and lifts community spirits.

“And its speaks volumes about the character of Joe Potter,” he added. “It wouldn’t happen without him and we really can’t thank him enough.”

The Westerly-Pawcatuck Columbus Day Parade, set for Sunday, Oct. 8, at 1 p.m., has a rain date of Monday, Oct. 9. The committee is also bringing back the traditional pre-parade pasta dinner at the Calabrese Club, Potter said, which is scheduled to take place on Monday, Oct. 2, from 5 to 7 p.m.

For more information about the parade, visit: http://columbusdayparade.net/.