Browntown July 4 Parades

MORE ABOUT OTT BAKER AND HIS HORSE-DRAWN WAGON

Ott Baker’s father, Clarence Baker Sr., was born in Rappahannock County in 1894. He was a US Army veteran of World War I. He and his wife, Olive Mozel Henry Baker, had 11 children. Ott was born in 1933 at home in the old Updike farmhouse (now the Izaak Walton League clubhouse) on Gooney Manor Loop. His parents were Clarence Baker and Mozel Henry Baker. He and his many brothers and sisters attended Browntown School and other Warren County Schools. 

Ott Baker married the love of his life, Shirley Virginia Atkins, in 1957. They started their married life in Arlington, Virginia before moving to Browntown. In 1970 they built their homestead “Farriers Knob” in Glen Echo and lived there for the next 50 years. 

Ott was a self-taught farrier, applying his trade up and down the Shenandoah Valley for more than forty years. He had a team of horses that he trained himself. They could be seen hitched to his big green and red wagon in many area parades. He also had a beautiful sleigh and he and Shirley could often be seen riding thru Browntown on a cold winter day, “the bells on the horses ringing loud for all to hear.”

We are pretty sure that sitting next to Ott in the photo is Wendy Smelser, holding her little brother. Behind them we think it may be Ashley Campbell and Candace Poe, with Gary Partlow, walking behind to make sure none of the little ones would fall off the wagon. It is hard to tell who the rest of the kids are on the wagon who are clearly having a wonderful time. In the background you can see the steeple of the Browntown Baptist Church, originally built by the Lutherans in 1897 and bought from them by the Baptists in 1943. You can also see the house, built around 1925, known historically as the “Updike-Weary House.” The house is still there but it has been significantly changed since this photo was taken.

THE BEST SHOW IN TOWN FOR 30 YEARS

These parades were used to gather a crowd and kick-off the Browntown Celebration every July for more than 30 years (1978 to 2010). They were known to be “the best show in town” in the whole of the northern Shenandoah Valley every 4^th of July. In addition to the parade there were numerous side-events and competitions, the exact nature of which varied from year to year. Horseshoes and a dunking tank, were always popular, but we would try most anything, an outhouse race, the pony plop, a break-dancing competition. One year we even had a belly dancer. That didn’t go over very well—some old-timers took their folding chairs and walked out on the show! The two constants were the parade and the firework display which took place at dusk. In 1981 even the Washington Star sent a reporter to cover the event. When asked by the reporter, why we were celebrating, one boy said, “Because its Saturday!”.

THE HISTORY OF THE BROWNTOWN JULY 4^TH CELEBRATIONS AND PARADE

Celebrating July 4^th in Browntown is a very old tradition! In 1897 Lloyd Jennings, a Warren County octogenarian, in a letter to the Warren Sentinel described how elderly veterans of the Revolutionary War used to meet in the Browntown area (most likely in Glen Echo) every July 4th for many years. According to Mr. Jennings, these elderly veterans would sing “The Star Spangled Banner… and reminisce about the battles in which they fought, talk over their trials and share tears of joy for the great victories they achieved and bequeathed for all coming generations and make an exhibition of the wounds they received during the clash of steel.” 

(Source: Rebecca Good, The Warren Sentinel, 1976)

It seems highly likely that more July 4^th celebrations took place in Browntown during the first 70 or so years of the 20th Century but we have been unable to find any written description of them. We do know that during the nation’s Bicentennial in 1976 there was kind of a patriotic feeling in the country, and that may have been the impetus in 1978 for the revival by the Browntown Community Center Association (BCCA) of the tradition of July 4^th Celebrations. 

Here is what we do know about how these celebrations evolved over the next 30 or so years before they finally came to an end with little fanfare in 2010:

1980

The 3^rd such event took place in 1980. Sharon Tharpe, chairman of special events for the Browntown Community Center Association (BCCA) brought together a small July 4^th planning committee (Sharon Tharpe, chairman, Carrie Nossett, Arnold and Marge Noel, Kenneth Poe, Wanda Burkhart, and Willie Smedley) in June of that year.

With only a month to plan the committee came up with a very impressive (and creative!) design for the event, which kicked off at 2 p.m., and included:

• An “outhouse race” – in which various local community groups teams were invited to participate, (5-man teams raced against each other, carrying “an authentic, but abandoned outhouse” in a sprint down the center lawn, with a cash prize awarded to the winning team. 
• Game booths, Competitive games (weather permitting), an arts and crafts display; and a covered dish dinner
• Live music;
• And “the grand finale”: a fireworks display after dusk. 

Despite the short amount of time available to set this all up the event seems to have been a roaring success. As far as we can determine, the day did not include a parade.

1982

This was followed by a community covered dish luncheon. A 26-unit parade, featuring Carol Steele as grand Marshall and Andy Guest as Honorary Marshall, initiated activities. It included floats, horse and wagon units (one carried Miss Browntown and her court), youth groups and commercial units. At the Community Center after the parade, the Browntown Girl Scouts presented a performance of Hansel and Gretl. 

But there was still more to come! Followed the Girl Scouts performance, there was then a two-hour outdoor concert by the Stewards, a gospel music group. This was followed by yet another two -hour concert by “Lemans”, a country music group. And finally, (for those still standing!) there was a pageant, written by Carlysle C. Crank (the local Pastor), and Rebecca Poe. This was based on local history and was presented by a cast of Gooney residents. The fireworks display ended the day’s activities.

According to a newspaper report later that July, “An estimated 1,000 people entered the Center’s gates that day and more were in attendance at the parade.”

1987

The event continued to evolve after 1982 with the two common elements always being the parade and the firework display. In 1987 the event was focused specifically on raising funds to pay for a new roof for the BCCA building (i.e. the Old Browntown School). 

The event now started at 5 p.m., rather than 2 p.m. as it had done five years earlier. The festivities kicked off with the parade, headed by Warren County Sheriff Lynn C. Armentrout. This parade featured county candidates for the November general election, Shawn Smelser on horseback, John and Tom Lacombe as a colorful 4th of July clowns and Browntown’s own Tommy Tharpe as Uncle Sam. The crowd of about 700 people gathered along Browntown Road sporting lawn chairs and sitting in their vehicles to watch the parade march by.

After the parade the Community Center grounds opened and featured an exhibit by the Warren County Trappers Association; a quilt display by the Browntown Friendship Club; refreshments and clowns, Tom Lacombe and son John, selling helium balloons; face painting; a dunking booth; and Tommy Tharpe dressed as Uncle Sam. A local band, “Five of a Kind” played music while all these activities were going on. Finally, at 9 p.m. the fireworks display began under the direction of Tom Lacombe. 

1988

A spokesman for the 1988 celebrations proclaimed before the event that “Our July 4^th celebrations seem to get bigger and better every year.” The event now included a Moon Bounce, cork guns and ducks on the pond, a firemen’s game for the kids, and a horseshoe pitch complete with cash prizes for adults. Celebrations kicked off at 4 p.m. with the parade. On the Community Center grounds visitors could choose from a variety of offerings, including arts and crafts exhibits, chainsaw carvings by the Virginia Mountain Man, live country music by Five of a Kind, games for everyone, a wheel of fortune, face painting, balloons, raffles and food concessions. Fireworks began at dark. 

1989

A year later the celebrations continued to evolve. In addition to “numerous games and concessions for young and old,” a crafts fair was introduced and you could even attend a belly dancing exhibition by Dion Hanna beginning at 7 p.m. as a precursor to the traditional fireworks display an hour or so later. The invitation to participate in the parade that kicked off the whole event expanded to include all kinds of local organizations, youth groups, corporations and “well behaved animals.” Browntown area children aged 5 thru 12 were also invited to apply to be the king and queen of the parade. The winners were chosen from a random drawing of the applications.

The 1990s and Early 2000s