SALISBURY — A decade’s worth of effort by local leaders and firefighters to restore the town’s historic Red Wing Handtub will be on display Monday when the antique is featured in the town’s annual Memorial Day parade.
The Red Wing Handtub, built in 1826, was used to extinguish fires on Ring’s Island for 38 years before its retirement. For more than a century, the Red Wing sat dormant until it was purchased and restored by former Salisbury firefighter Danny Frost in 1976.
Fast-forward 40 years, and that’s when the Salisbury Firefighters Association acquired the historic apparatus after a fundraising campaign in 2016.
After years of fundraising and meetings between town officials, a resolution was reached for the Red Wing to be stored on the Elm Street property, also occupied by the Salisbury Historical Society. After the parade, the Red Wing will be brought to its new home where a brief ceremony will take place.
“We really need an opportunity to recognize the numerous people that have donated significant funds privately to that effort over the past 10 years to make that a reality,” Fire Chief Scott Carrigan said.
Speaking during the Board of Selectmen meeting May 13, Carrigan spoke about how his department wanted to hold a Red Wing dedication of sorts on Memorial Day without overshadowing the festivities.
“We won’t interfere with the celebration of our veterans and the purpose of that day. But we are going to put the vehicle in the parade and then moving over to that location,” Carrigan said earlier this month.
The parade will depart from the Salisbury Fire Department parking lot at 10 a.m. and will journey south on Route 1 to Beach Road, then to Ferry Road and up Pleasant Street, ending in Salisbury Square.
“Then we conclude with a brief ceremony on the common,” Parks and Recreation Director Jenn Roketenetz said, referring to the town common.
She said they will have state and local representatives in attendance for the service.
Former Selectman Fred Knowles will be the master of ceremonies for the Memorial Day parade.
Echoing a popular saying of Knowles, Roketenetz said everybody should march in a parade at least once.
“For those people that have not ever marched in a parade, it is definitely something you should do once in a lifetime. So the parade is open to everyone and anyone that would like to march in it,” Roketenetz said.
Encouraging people to come as groups, Roketenetz said people can enter as anything from a school, a band, a team or a family.
“We’ll have baseball teams, our Lions Club, the Senior Center, all sorts of community teams,” Roketenetz said.
She said they usually have several hundreds of participants each year.
“It’s a great way to stop and have that remembrance for our veterans that have given the ultimate sacrifice, especially as a community,” Roketenetz said.
Folks looking to participate in the parade are encouraged to arrive in the Fire Department parking lot between 9:30 and 9:45 a.m.
A call to Knowles was not returned in time for this report.