2019 -- H 6199

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LC002813

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

HONORING JAMES FARLEY ON BEING NAMED CHIEF MARSHAL OF THE 2019

BRISTOL, RHODE ISLAND, FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION

     Introduced By: Representatives Donovan, Speakman, Abney, Shekarchi, and Filippi

     Date Introduced: June 11, 2019

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, The Bristol, Rhode Island, Fourth of July Celebration was founded in 1785,

and is the oldest Fourth of July celebration in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, Beginning in 1826, a Chief Marshal has been chosen annually. It is a highly

enviable and exceptional tribute bestowed upon a Bristol resident who has exhibited outstanding

devotion and distinction within the community and it is therefore fitting that James Farley has

been chosen to be the Chief Marshal of the 2019 Bristol Fourth of July Celebration; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Farley, a life-long Rhode Islander, had a distinguished career in public

administration, predominately with the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, after he

had finished his studies at New England College, the University of Rhode Island and Providence

College; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Farley has been deeply involved with Bristol’s Fourth of July

Celebration and Committee in myriad ways since 1976, including serving as General Chairman

and on the Executive Committee. Through the years, Mr. Farley has played an instrumental role

in creating many of the Committee’s most cherished traditions, including the creation of the

Hattie Brown Award, the Interfaith Service, the Flag Day Kickoff, nightly concerts during the

celebration, and the installation of banners along the parade route; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Farley has also devoted much of his life in support of other important

Bristol and East Bay organizations and endeavors. He is a life-member of the Benevolent and

Protective Order of Elks, 1408, and served as Past President of the Chief Marshals’ Association.

He also served as a member and Chairman of the Bristol Planning Board for thirty years, as

Chairman of the Comprehensive Plan, as a member of the Capitol Budget Committee, the Zoning

Revision Committee, Explore Bristol, and the East Bay Tourism Council. He also played a key

role in the merger of East Bay with the Newport Convention & Visitors Bureau, now named the

Bristol and Newport Counties Convention and Visitors Bureau and is a member of the National

Army-Navy Club; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Farley is a longtime and devoted member of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

parish, where he serves as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, and in the same

capacity at Rhode Island Hospital. He has also served on the Diocesan Office of Religious

Education, on the East Bay CYO Board, and has sung in several choirs over the years. Mr. Farley

has been married to his wife, Pierrette Farley for fifty-five years and they are the proud parents of

Judith, Elizabeth and Sara, and six grandchildren, Neil, Joshua, Dmitry, Ivan, Jordan, and Cloe;

and

     WHEREAS, The Bristol community could not have chosen a person more worthy of this

high honor than James Farley and he will surely make us all proud with his service as the new

Chief Marshal of the Bristol Fourth of July Celebration; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

Providence Plantations hereby congratulates James Farley on being named Chief Marshal of the

2019 Bristol Fourth of July Celebration. We moreover commend him for his many extraordinary

achievements and contributions, and wish him continued health, happiness and success in all his

future endeavors; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. James Farley.

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