President's Message

Jerry Peshka, President

Welcome to the Gaspee Days website. I want to thank Ryan Giviens for completely rewriting these pages to bring our presence up to date. This is the second time I have been elected
President of the Gaspee Days Committee and I am honored and humbled by this opportunity.
Our goal as the executive board and mine as President is to grow the committee’s involvement in the community as well as to involve more people - young and not so young - in the committee. We need new ideas and visions. That being said, we have three new people on our executive board that have added greatly to our events and the way we run our committee. We are growing our proclamation ceremonies to include music and food. We hope to make this a more informative and enjoyable event. Our 5K has two leaders that have worked tirelessly to grow and improve the race. Our ecumenical service was always held on the morning of the parade so there was minimal participation. Thanks to two of our long-term members, we are moving the service to Tuesday before the parade and changing the format to a more musical event with a reception after. More to come on that. Our parade is being run this year again by a member that has run it before, but she has asked one of our past senior coordinators to be her co-chair and that means she will run the parade next year. They have named some new key people for the parade, which is a big responsibility. Our Arts & Crafts committee has a new co-chair and they are talking about enhancements for the next few years. Lastly, we have moved our Block Party to the Friday night before the Arts & Crafts Festival. This allows the street to be clear of vendors for people attending the event and mostly allows our committee to be rested before the festival. Our seasoned members and our new members help keep traditions and improve them to work in today’s world. It is my sincere hope that the committee continues to grow and flourish while entertaining and educating about the First Blow for Freedom, The burning of the HMS Gaspee in 1772. I hope to see you all at this year’s celebration.