Town Council says veterans group can organize Memorial Day parade

BUVC will collaborate with town, invite others to help plan event

By Josh Bickford
Posted 2/7/23

The Barrington Town Council voted 3-1 to return organizational duties for the Memorial Day Parade to the Barrington United Veterans Council. 

Council members spent more than an hour debating …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Town Council says veterans group can organize Memorial Day parade

BUVC will collaborate with town, invite others to help plan event

Posted

The Barrington Town Council voted 3-1 to return organizational duties for the Memorial Day Parade to the Barrington United Veterans Council. 

Council members spent more than an hour debating the topic during Monday night’s meeting, and eventually settled on a motion calling for the town manager and BUVC to collaborate on the parade, and also make a coordinated effort to invite others to participate in the planning process. Specifically, the local veterans organization and the town manager will jointly reach out to all veterans in town and the individuals who organized last year’s parade.

Barrington Town Council member Annelise Conway voted against the motion. Conway said she was concerned about allowing the Barrington United Veterans Council to have a lead role in organizing the parade because she feared that might spur some people to not participate.

Council President Carl Kustell cautioned that it was not a good idea for the council to try to get into the heads of people who may or may not want to participate. 

Conway’s comments upset some members of the audience — some people said that while she was preaching inclusivity, she herself was not being inclusive of the BUVC; others stood up and walked out of the council chambers. 

Kustell said the BUVC had run a stellar Memorial Day Parade for decades in Barrington. He said he was confident they would do a great job this year and be inviting to others who want to participate. Kustell said the group would allow non-BUVC members to participate in the planning process, although Councilor Kate Berard wanted to know if those non-members would have a vote on parade issues.

Col. Paul Dulchinos, the President of the Barrington UVC, said the group by-laws do not extend voting privileges to non-members. 

After numerous attempts, the majority of council members — Kustell, Berard and Rob Humm — voted to pass the motion. Conway voted nay; Council member Braxton Medlin did not attend the meeting. 

The decision marked a change from last year, when the council opted to have Barrington Town Manager Phil Hervey work with other volunteers to plan the parade. On Monday night, Hervey explained how organizing last year’s parade was a difficult task — he referred to it as “a heavy lift” and very time-consuming.

More than a half-dozen residents spoke in favor of returning organizational duties for the Memorial Day Parade to the BUVC. Four members of the town’s DEI Committee shared a statement with the council — they did not have a specific recommendation regarding the BUVC, but asked that the town partner with groups that are inclusive. 

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
MIKE REGO

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.