There aren’t a lot of people who remember the early years of the Wissahickon Day Parade (of horses), but Flourtown resident and World War II Veteran Dr. Thomas A. Fitzpatrick, 101, is one of them. As a kid, his love of horses was developed watching what will be the 105th annual parade held on Sunday, April 26th.
Fitzpatrick, who is this years’ honoree, was five-years-old when he watched his first parade in 1929.
“It was and is always held on the last Sunday in April. As a family we would pack a picnic and spend the day along Forbidden Drive and watch as the horses and carriages came by and the crowds would line up and cheer them on,” said Fitzpatrick, a lifelong bachelor and avid sportsman, whom many describe as “an old-school gentleman.”
Having worked for 40 years as a biochemist in the laboratory at the United States Department of Agriculture in Wyndmoor, it wasn’t until his retirement 35 years ago that he made his way into the ring for the first time at the esteemed Devon Horse Show in the two-wheeled carriage class.
“I had been riding horses under saddle in the Wissahickon Valley for years, but that first time in that ring in a carriage was and is indescribable,” said Fitzpatrick, who for years has also shown in the ring in the local Wissahickon Day Horse Show and Parade.
“The parade is rich in history and when I share the tale of how Forbidden Drive got its name, people light up when they hear the story,” he said.
Believed to be the oldest continual equine parade in the country, the parade actually started as a protest. In 1921, a proposal was introduced to open the main park path to the new “automobile of the day.” More than 600 riders gathered and staged a “Save the Wissahickon” campaign and rode from one end of the park to the other as spectators rallied around them. It was because of the defeat of the proposal that the main gravel path was renamed “Forbidden Drive” because vehicles are forbidden to traverse the park.
“You wouldn’t find 600 horses in the Wissahickon today,” said Fitzpatrick, “but it’s important to maintain an equestrian presence in the park. “Horses are such an important part of our region’s history and they do provide pleasure to those who ride and to those watching the individual horses and carriages.”
Fitzpatrick’s grandfather operated the Northwestern Stables in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia in the 1800s where the 10 a.m. Horse Show will be held prior to the parade.
A World War II air force navigator and gunner, Fitzpatrick flew 30 missions in a B-17 over Nazi-occupied Europe, serving in the North African and Mediterranean European Theaters. Having received a host of medals, Fitzpatrick says he’d much prefer a horse show trophy any day.
The parade starts at Northwestern Avenue and Forbidden Drive at noon, Sunday, April 26, and reaches the Judge’s Stand at Valley Green Inn at 12:30 p.m. Parking will only be available at the Wises Mill Road lot, and the upper lot of the Valley Green Inn. Heavy rain will cancel the parade.