The 2009 Dorchester Day Parade was one of the better ones in recent memory. The sun shined the whole day with temperatures rising above 80 degrees. It was a gorgeous day for the onlookers, but probably a tad too hot for all the parade marchers. Keep in mind, the Dot Day parade starts in Lower Mills and ends at the intersection of Dorchester Avenue and Columbia Road, right at the edge of the Polish Triangle.
Dot Celebrities
Unlike many other politicians the Mayor of Dot, Steve Bickerton, chose to ride
For those not from the area, that's a 3.5 mile trip down Dot Ave. Might not seem like that long of a trip, but many marchers were carrying signs or were dressed up (shirts, ties and not wearing sneakers makes for a bit of an arduous journey). Meanwhile, my shorts, sandals and t-shirt combination kept me cool but forgetting to put on sunscreen left me with some nice lobster red arms that I could cook on egg on.
Still, it was all worth it to get a chance to see local celebrities from Dorchester, like the honorary Mayor of Dot, Mr. Steve Bickerton Jr. and the classiest gal in town, Little Miss Dorchester, Aisling Mannion. The Whalehead King also noticed people swooning over Dot celebrities.
There she goes, Little Miss Dorchester
Show of force
Throughout the parade we saw many servicemen and women. From police in cars, motorcycles and bicycles, firetrucks, all the way to some heavy duty trucks from the Dorchester Armory. They all received some cheers but the Dot Armory convoy received possibly the loudest cheer of the day, with plenty of thank yous too.
The Dot Armory convoy got a lot of cheers
Loved this guy's sword. He was leading a group of Vietnamese soldiers. Wanted to ask him if I could hold it but honestly was a bit scared he'd chop me right in half to please the blood thirsty crowd.
Don't touch my sword cameraman.
Dot Diversity
My favorite part about the Dorchester Day parade is the display of diversity. We really have people from all walks of life marching here. The racial, cultural, and professional diversity that is evident every day is on full display during Dorchester Day. As Ed Forry wrote in a recent editorial about Dot Day:
As we have said for years, Dorchester begins with a Capitol D — and that stands for Diversity — and that’s Dot’s biggest strength.
It really is. As you look at the marchers and watchers, no one is excluded. No matter the color of your skin, political alignment, sexual preference, profession, or socio-economic background, you're welcome here in Dorchester. I love it, I really do. There's no other place I'd rather have grown up in and the main reason is the diverse populace.
So to wrap up this post, here's the Dot Day 2009 parade video playlist (also embedded below). You'll get to see the Dot diversity in motion. More videos to come as the day goes. Also, there are nearly 200 photos in my 2009 Dorchester Day flickr set. Adam Gaffin from Universal Hub brings us more photos and videos from the Dot Day parade. The Dottie Hottie brings us a few pics from Dot Day 2009.
Where you at Dot Day 2009? What did you think of it? Where did you watch it from?
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Post written on 2009-06-08.
