One, if by land, and two, if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the countryfolk to be up and to arm.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1860
This week in Boston retired Contractor Dino Di Carlo, 61, will don colonial-style breeches, waistcoat and peruke. Then he will mount a horse and head northwestward through suburban Middlesex County, re-enacting Paul Revere's ride 200 years earlier to warn Lexington and Concord that British troops were coming to seize the colonists' military supplies. Di Carlo's trip will be the first major commemorative event since the U.S. Bicentennial celebration officially began on March 1. It promises to be a gigantic birthday bash that will involve millions of Americans, from the largest cities to the tiniest hamlets, and spawn thousands of speeches, parades, pageants, school plays, fairs, exhibitions, TV shows, postage stamps, buttons, T shirts and Jefferson knows what else before the party officially ends on Dec. 31, 1976.
Grinder and Beer. As closely as possible, Di Carlo will follow Revere's route. But the passage of two centuries and the organizers' desire to accommodate spectators have substantially altered conditions. The ride will begin at 9 a.m. on April 19 instead of the previous night, and originate from the Old North Church in Boston rather than from Charlestown. Instead of passing through Longfellow's "meadows brown" and "village street," Di Carlo will ride through a typical 20th century urban sprawl (see map). If he wished, he could stop for a grinder at Mamma Lisa's Pizza House, a beer at Moriarty's Bar, a pound of chopped chicken liver at Levine's Kosher Meat Market or lunch at the China Bo Restaurant. He could wash his horse blanket at Launderland or even trade in his steed for something with more horsepower at any of half a dozen automobile dealerships along the way. But Di Carlo will be spurred on by a schedule that permits no dallying, not even at the Paul Revere Liquor Mart.
When he arrives in Lexington, by about 1 p.m., he will find that the battle began at 6 a.m. and ended long before he left Boston. On the Lexington Green, residents acting as the British redcoats will have routed neighbors dressed as Minutemen and marched off to participate in Concord's parade to the old North Bridge, the site of the second skirmish. Residents of both Lexington and Concord regard the hordes of tourists—up to 500,000 are expected—as the real enemy and are suitably prepared. There will be 200 portable toilets, 60 lunch stands, 19 Red Cross stations and 400 National Guardsmen standing by in case of trouble.
So it will go in communities across the country for the next 20 months, as the East and the South re-enact the major and some minor events of the Revolutionary period and the Middle West and Far West commemorate their regional history.