Thomas P. Sanzi, a member of the Glocester Light Infantry, calls the unit’s treatment “a grave injustice.”

The Providence Journal / Bob Thayer

The Gloucester Light Infantry, a citizen militia that rose up against the British during the Revolutionary War, has a new enemy: the 82nd-annual Ancients and Horribles Parade.

The local group of war reenactors –– who ran the Fourth of July parade for over a decade and traces its roots to the early days of the irreverent, satirical parade –– is at odds with organizers over its appearance fee.

The militia unit is demanding more money than previous years because of rising costs. The parade organizers were hoping they would appear for free.

Parade committee chairwoman Connie Leathers says that in these tight economic times, local parades need concessions from everyone involved. “We’re trying to be good stewards of the money we are given by the town,” she says.

For some in the unit, it is the latest parade-related indignity –– a list that includes being put at the back of the parade procession last year –– and it has them contemplating sitting this year out.

“It’s a grave injustice,” says unit member Thomas P. Sanzi, of Glocester.

“An absolute shame,” says Peter Ruggieri, another member from Glocester.

First held in 1927, the Ancients and Horribles has the reputation of being the politically incorrect answer to the traditional parades happening elsewhere in the Ocean State.

More political roast than parade, Ancients and Horribles encourages garish floats that poke fun at the news stories that made headlines in national and local politics and pop culture.

Recent floats parodied U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, Vice President Dick Cheney, and former Providence Mayor Vincent A. “Buddy” Cianci Jr.

Some say the parade takes its name from two independent parades in town in the early 1900s. The Horribles parade, begun in 1909 by a men’s club called the Knockers, had marchers dressed in outlandish costumes.

The Ancients Parade, started in 1914, had participants wearing old-fashioned costumes to celebrate the coming of the trolley to the village of Chepachet. The two parades, disparate as they were, merged in 1927 and evolved into a vigorous spoof of local affairs.

Yet those on today’s parade committee say there is a much simpler explanation: the name is a spoof on an upper-crust social group in Massachusetts known as the Ancient and Honorables. From its inception, it was a political satire (the name also may be a take on the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, which serves as honor guard to the governor of Massachusetts).

As in every parade, some acts in the Ancients and Horribles are paid and some are not.

The dozen or so bands, jugglers, and clowns constitute about half the parade’s $30,000 budget. Many more march simply to be a part of the spectacle.

The Gloucester Light Infantry, which traces it origins to a unit that served at the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Battle of Rhode Island, maintains that its organization was among the first to participate in the parade. And since at least 1974, when it took over the duties of running the parade, it has been paid.

The 27-member unit is active in reenactments across New England, and is heavily involved in the town of Glocester.

It runs the town’s Memorial Day Parade and its members make appearances at the town’s Heritage Days and Candlelight Shopping in the village of Chepachet around Christmastime.

The unit assisted with the planning of the town’s 165th anniversary celebration of the Dorr Rebellion last year, an event that raised money for the Glocester Heritage Society’s planned museum.

But recently the unit has been asking for, and getting, more money from the parade where other performers have not, says Leathers.

This year, the infantry asked for $550, up from about $400 last year and even more from the year before, says Leathers. The committee had to draw the line. “They’re getting out of sync with what we can afford,” she says.

Among the region’s few events that draw statewide appeal, the parade receives about $17,000 from the Town of Glocester and the rest is drummed up by fundraisers, grants, corporate sponsors, and individual donations.

Leathers says that much of the town’s contribution goes toward the police detail, the post-parade cleanup, and the fireworks display, which took place on June 28. That leaves the committee to negotiate with vendors and performers for lower rates.

Leather says that at the committee’s request, the light and sound technician reduced his fee this year by about $400 to $1,600. The committee saved money by picking up light towers and power generators from a rental company rather than having those large items delivered. It even opted not to print any parade T-shirts for its volunteers this year. “We’re trying to be fiscally responsible,” she says.

Infantry members counter that the issue has more to do with a personal grudge than parade economics.

At last year’s parade, the infantry was asked to take a spot toward the back of the parade procession. In past years, the infantry’s smoking muskets and booming canons have been at or near the front.

“Last year we were in front of the fire trucks,” says Ruggieri. “Who’s going to hear the fife and drums –– our world class fife and drums –– with the fire trucks blaring their horns?”

Leathers says that the committee decided to give the honor of stepping off the parade to a contingent of Korean War veterans and a color guard from the state National Guard (they will also head the parade this year). The infantry ended up at the back of the pack because they arrived just half an hour before the parade’s start, according to Leathers.

Sanzi, who has been a member of the parade committee for six years but has never been elevated to the status of a voting member, says Leathers holds a grudge against the infantry because its members fought to get the parade back to its traditional, late-afternoon start time.

In 2004, parade organizers pulled back the start time to 11 a.m. in response to concerns from public safety officials that revelers were dangerously unruly and, oftentimes, drunk. After suffering from low attendance, the parade went back to the 4 p.m. start in 2006.

Leathers denies that the issue has anything to do with the infantry’s current complaint. “It’s nothing personal,” she says. “We did not single out the infantry for anything.”

the infantry will make an appearance at Cumberland’s Arnold Mills parade tomorrow morning, but not Ancients and Horribles.

Leathers says that if the infantry showed up as an unpaid act, it would be eligible for a contest prize. The $100 to $500 cash prizes could go toward offsetting their expenses.

“We would like to have the infantry there, but we also have a lot of other things to focus on,” says Leathers. “The Gloucester Light Infantry is one group. Their not showing up is not going to make or break the parade.”

The Ancients and Horribles Parade steps off, rain or shine, at 4 p.m. from the intersection of Route 100 and Route 98 and winds along Putnam Pike about two miles into the village of Chepachet, ending at Acotes Hill Cemetery. Alcoholic beverages are not permitted on the parade route.

pmarcelo@projo.com