Maureen rode in a sexy red Corvette provided by Hillcrest Chevrolet, and her daughter and her classmates from the Eveleth School carried the spinnaker with the American flag on it that Maureen and Nick used in the regatta. Parade organizer and bagpiper extraordinaire Julie Hahnke provided a march, Glover's Regiment followed with fife and drum, and the route was lined with fans waving little American flags.
Once the parade arrived at Fort Sewall, state and local politicians read proclamations where every sentence started with "Whereas...", and a representative from the Marblehead Board of Selectmen proclaimed September 20th as "Maureen McKinnon-Tucker Day" - not a bad thing. I had been asked to speak about my mother's involvement in putting disabled sailing on the map as a paralympic sport, and Katie Kelly from US Sailing presented Maureen with an Olympic flag signed by all of the members of the Olympic and Paralympic sailing teams.
We also acknowledged Marblehead's other Paralympic representative Tim Angle. Tim sailed with Rick Doerr in the Sonar, and unfortunately, despite being highly touted for gold, the team came away with an 8th place finish.
Chowder and ice cream were thoughtfully provided by several local Marblehead businesses, and the ceremony came to a fitting close with Marblehead's Glover's Regiment giving Maureen a 9-gun salute followed by the playing of the national anthem on fife and drum. The paraders then retired to the Landing for some well-deserved refreshment, and the celebration continued well into the afternoon.
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