“Depending on current state guidance.”

Last year, if Fourth of July General Chairman Michele Martins said that once, she said it a thousand times. And that’s one thing that probably won’t change between now and July — Bristol’s celebration is still subject to state mandates. The good news is, those mandates are almost certainly going to be significantly more relaxed than they were in 2020, when the parade was shortened, the Patriotic Exercises were socially distanced (“A phrase I cannot wait to stop using,” said Ms. Martins), and the concerts, carnival, and fireworks were all cancelled.

The main event, however, was not cancelled — and that’s something that Ms. Martins admits is a little frustrating to hear, when people suggest that it was cancelled.

“We honored our veterans, and our first-responders, and I think that people who value the real meaning of the celebration, and what it means to our community, took away a lot from that day,” she said.

“I’ve been asked if we don’t think we should go bigger, and I don’t — I think we are ready to have a great celebration with great local entertainment, and for the community to come together as much as we can … depending on state guidance.”

This is what Ms. Martins and her committee know for sure: there will be a parade and patriotic exercises as there were last year, they will bring back concerts, fireworks, and the carnival, subject to crowd size regulations, and they will do whatever they need to do to make these events happen within these parameters.

“The concerts are the hardest thing to predict,” admits Ms. Martins. “We know Blithewold did a great job with their summer concert series. We will have to look at the spaces that might be available to us and what’s allowed at the time, and make a plan based on that.”

She wants the public to know that they are seeing the same information from the state, in real time, that everyone else is getting. “We know we are probably not going to be able to have 5,000 people, shoulder to shoulder, but we are working on a plan with the state.

“We’re going to do the best we can.”

Fundraising a focus

One thing they need is money.

“We earned very little last year,” said Ms. Martins. “A lot of sponsors pulled out because of their own financial positions, and that is still a weight on a lot of their shoulders.” The Committee will be focused on that over the next couple of months, planning fundraising opportunities and soliciting sponsors. They are currently offering an opportunity for people to put messages in their annual souvenir book, and they are expecting a better-than-ever response to that. “We have already seen that the community wants to help in any way they can.”

Chief Marshal announcement delay

Though Ms. Martins (and the honoree) have known the selection of the 2021 Chief Marshal since the fall, they will be holding off on making that announcement until May. “We want to hold some kind of celebration for Suzanne at that time,” she said of 2020 Chief Marshal Suzanne Magaziner, whose announcement itself was delayed due to extreme gathering restrictions early in the pandemic. Ms. Martins hopes to hold an event outdoors when warm weather and large permitted gatherings will allow an event more like the “good old days” of 2019.

“Like Suzanne, the new chief marshal is very community-minded, very modest. They will be celebrated together.”