After the chance meeting of Richard Trask with Roger Maconi, Adjutant of the council of Minutemen, the Company quickly made application to join the Council. On June 4, 1974, the Danvers board of Selectmen reactivated the Danvers Alarm List Company, and shortly thereafter, the Company was voted into the Council. In May the Company had their first drill in uniform, which, although it looked good to the men at the time, now in looking back, seems almost laughable. There were few completed clothes, odds and ends for weapons, and little knowledge or confidence in drilling, marching, or terminology. But as the weeks passed, the Company took shape. Ensign McKenna took serious his charge of safety officer, and many training sessions were held at his house. Sergeant Trask continued to study the manual and levy fines which, besides helping the treasury, shaped the men into a better attitude and pride in themselves and the Company. At the urging of the officers, Danvers decided to always give that extra effort to keep its self-respect strong and its standing good.
The first program the company took part in was the Danvers July 4, 1974, parade, with eight men participating. After the exposure of the parade, others began joining, giving the Company a number of active men never under twenty-five.
Women and children, most related to the men, became active by researching, construction, and wearing eighteenth-century styles and taking up eighteenth-century crafts, such as spinning, candle-making, and embroidering. Popular marching and tavern songs were learned and sung by the men during programs. The Company soon was being asked to participate in numerous programs and events,a and the men freely gave their time and effort in school and frequent company-sponsored educational programs, while paid events added to the Company's treasury for disbursement of needed equipment such as a drum, tents, and other Company and camp equipment.
The Company has participated in many recreated incidents, including the Salem Affair in February 0f 1975, the Battle at Menotomy, the June 14, 1975 Bunker Hill reenactment battle at West Newbury, the capture of Ticonderoga, New York, May 10, 1975, and the Arnold march to Quebec on September 20, 1975. In all, the Company participated in over fifty programs during its full year of activity.
Undoubtedly, the busiest time for the company was the week of April 19, 1975. During that busy week the Company participated in five parades, four programs, and put on four programs of its own. In five days the Company marched over thirty-eight miles, and the men represented the Company and the Town to the credit of both. |
