Funeral march to Glover’s tomb is Saturday welcome

BY WILLIAM J. DOWD

At the tail end of January every year, members of Glover’s Regiment muster around the Old Town House, 1 Market Square, before they march through the town’s historic streets to Gen. John Glover’s tomb atop Old Burial Hill.

The funeral march pays homage to the Revolutionary War general whose regiment carried out the military operation that ferried George Washington and his army across the Delaware River on Christmas Day in 1776. The Delaware Crossing allowed the Continental Army to launch a sneak attack against sleeping Hessian soldiers and secure its first major victory in 1776.

Many of the men in Glover’s regiment were Marbleheaders, and their actions at this turning point of the war remain a source of town pride.

To pay homage to Glover and the Revolutionary War veterans buried at Old Burial Hill, the present-day Glover’s Regiment carries out the funeral march on the Saturday closest to Glover’s death at 64 on Jan. 30, 1797.

“The Regiment always held the march on the 30th of January,” said Larry Sands, a member of the re-enactment group. “We started having it on the Saturday closest [to his death] because we have members coming from a distance.”

Seamus Daly, the re-enactment group’s captain, said the funeral march overlaps with twilight, creating a solemn aura around the marchers and the trail of people behind them.

“It’s a pretty poignant ceremony,” said Daly. “I just feel like we’re stepping back into history as we march down Old Town streets, making it all the more memorable.”

The Historic District comes alive as the re-enactors clad in 18th-century garb process through the town’s streets to the beat of a drum. Children peek out windows. Homeowners step

BY LEIGH BLANDER

On Martin Luther King Jr. National Service Day, volunteers gathered at the nonprofit SPUR to fill more than 100 soup jars, to be delivered to the Marblehead and Anchor food pantries. The jars contain all the ingredients for a healthy soup and just need hot water added.

“Today we celebrate Dr. King’s legacy,” said Kim Nothnagel, SPUR’s director of community outreach. “His legacy was so much around building strong, resilient communities.”

Liz and Hugh Buchan, of Marblehead, brought their two daughters to SPUR to fill the soup jars.

“I hope these kinds of experiences help them to realize how privileged we are, and that

He went to work with his father, who was also a tailor. But by the time he was 30, there wasn’t