6 minute read
The Concord Minute Men: Honoring the Past
BY DOUG ELLIS
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a modern-day minuteman? The Concord Minute Men, established on December 10, 1962, in advance of the bicentennial, is the quintessential colonial unit here in Concord. At its peak in 1976, it boasted 253 men (and only men were admitted). The Minute Men was one of those organizations everyone wanted to participate in if they could. In subsequent years, membership declined, as with many other organizations. The bicentennial came and went, and although a plethora of events followed in the subsequent years, only a stalwart group of members formed the core and kept the tradition alive.
By 2010, membership was down to about 20 with only about seven or so members active at any given time. But the lights were not out for the Concord Minute Men. A core group of us knew how much fun and what an honor it is to represent the town and its history and wanted to share it. John Arena began to recruit new members from the Concord Public Schools staff, and before long, we had a solid fife and drum corp. John recruited Julie Beyer into the fife corp and we threw out the “men only” requirement and never looked back. Slowly but surely, the musket men began to increase in ranks by both bolstering our numbers from other minute companies and from our own new recruits.
Today we have roughly 40 members, with about 25 attending each event. We consist of our fife and drum unit, musket men and women, and honor guard. Our focus is to have fun, making participation easy. In the original days of the Concord Minute Men, we had very basic uniforms that needed to be more historically accurate, but they reminded the members of the period they represent. Today, we strive for a much higher standard, but frankly, we do not think the public who sees us cares if our canteen straps are made of cotton or hemp.
Our fife and drum unit have a lot of fun. They conduct practices nearly every week at the Fenn School or the School of Philosophy at the Orchard House in the winter. In warmer months, you can see us practice on the Town Common across from the Colonial Inn (typically on Tuesdays). New members need not have any experience. A fife is a relatively inexpensive instrument, and the team is happy to teach. Of course, experience playing a flute helps a lot! We have many of our original drums from back in the day, so new drummers can usually draw from a supply of well-seasoned instruments.
The musket men and women represent the original minutemen as faithfully as possible. The Concord Minute Men begin their musket drills in January every year to refresh the veterans and train the new folks. Our movements are all dictated by the “1764 Manual of Arms” and since all units use the same drill, anyone can drill with any other unit. This is good for several reasons. First, we all follow the same safety protocols and learn from each other. Second, if you know the drill, you can participate with any other unit. We ask that members attend as many drills as they can until they can show proficiency to our Safety Officer, Doug Ellis. Once proficient, members have the opportunity to join up with other units and participate in any number of public events and re-enactments.
Together, the combined unit participates in many town events including Patriots’ Day, the Dawn Salute at the Old North Bridge, Honored Citizen, Memorial Day observances in West Concord and Concord Center, the Veterans Day Flag retirement ceremony, and the Holiday Tree Lighting. We also make annual presentations to the 5th-grade classes in all the schools (as schedules allow). Additionally, in recent years, we’ve spread our wings and have been invited to several parades outside of Concord such as the Bunker Hill Parade in Charlestown, the Marlborough Labor Day Parade, and Holliston’s 300th Anniversary Parade.
We also get invited to unusual events such as promotional videos with WBZ, Ken Burns’ “Honor Your Hometown” video series, the commissioning of the USS Thomas Hudner, and so much more.
The time commitment is up to the member. We all do this to have fun, and although we want and need to have good numbers to participate in events, we understand that everyone can’t do everything. We have some members who just participate in the Patriots’ Day parade and that’s fine. We have others who participate in about everything because they want to and that’s awesome!
Getting outfitted is another big concern for most people. The fact is, it’s a process. We do have some waistcoats, breeches, and such that were turned in by former members. But, they’re usually the old uniforms that aren’t historically accurate, and probably won’t fit very well. It’s a good place to start without spending a lot but you’ll probably want to upgrade soon. We do strive for the National Park authenticity standard but understand that’s a very high hurdle for a newcomer. We maintain a long list of suppliers these days both locally and online where you can get a very authentic “kit” put together fairly quickly and with minimum expense.
Our current membership is composed of both new and long-time members who been doing this for generations like our Captain, Carl Sweeney, who was a member as a teenager at the bicentennial, as well as Jay Powers and Colin Chisolm who participated with their fathers years ago. Additionally, history buffs like me who are just honored to represent those who came before, and entire families like Kermit King and his daughter Addie who recently caught the bug and are enjoying discovering the hobby together. Either way, at the end of each event we have to ask, “Who else gets to do all this stuff?”
Doug Ellis is a past captain of the Concord Minute Men, past Master of the Corinthian Lodge of Freemasons in Concord, and newly appointed to Concord’s Historical Commission.
