Big Oil (Kerry Callery), center, of Portsmouth, has Uncle Sam (Roger Desauliers), of Glocester, over a barrel during yesterday’s Ancients and Horribles Parade in Chepachet. Playing the sheik is Bill Oakes, right, of Warren.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

GLOCESTER — For Ken C. Hopkins, winning is routine.

In fact, the Glocester resident has won so many awards at the Ancient and Horribles July Fourth Parade over the past 30 years that he has lost count.

“We go there to win,” Hopkins said. “I don’t mean to sound cocky … but we just overpower them.”

Yesterday, Hopkins did it again.

His 125-feet long float, built over 10 days and featuring scenes from all four Indiana Jones movies, won the “Best Float” award at the 82nd annual Ancients and Horribles parade in the village of Chepachet.

The 4 p.m. parade, known for its irreverence, political incorrectness and brash humor, attracted hordes of children, parents, grandparents and even great grandparents, who began lining up on both sides of Route 44 as early as 2 p.m.

“People in Glocester have no shame when it comes to expressing their opinion,” said Anthony J. DePetrillo, 60, who attended with nearly 50 relatives and friends.

And he was right.

One of the crowd’s favorite floats was entitled “The Beauties of Westconnaug” by parade Grand Marshal Dave Chace and family.

Making fun of state Rep. Nicholas Gorham’s proposal to combine the towns of Foster, Glocester, Exeter, Scituate, Coventry and West Greenwich into one “super town” called Westconnaug, members of the Chace family wore colored wigs and sashes and posed as beauty queens from the six towns. They danced to Shania Twain’s popular song, “Man, I Feel Like A Woman,” even pulling Gorham, who was at the parade, onto the float.

“You gotta be able to laugh a little whenever you are in politics,” Gorham said after the parade was over. “It was a great float.”

And though he said there was “no greater honor” than having his proposal featured in the parade, he added, “I’m still going ahead with the whole idea though.”

Nearly 60 floats participated in the parade –– an increase from past years, said Connie Leathers, parade committee chairwoman.

The parade was kicked off by marchers from the Rhode Island National Guard and a group of Korean War Veterans.

Cries of “Happy Fourth” filled the air as spectators smiled and waved flags, clapped and swayed to a mix of patriotic and jazz music and tried to catch candy and confetti thrown from various floats.

Controversy surrounded this year’s parade when a local citizen militia, which ran the parade for the past decade, decided to increase its appearance fee — a demand that was not met by the organizers.

But yesterday, a single member of The Gloucester Light Infantry, which dates back to the Revolutionary War, did make an appearance.

Peter A. Ruggieri, a sergeant in the militia, donned a 1776 minuteman costume and marched posing as a member of The Gloucester “Not-so-light” Infantry.

The other members of his unit marched in Cumberland’s Arnold Mills parade yesterday morning but Ruggieri said they got a “kick out of” his joke.

“It was just miscommunication,” Ruggieri said of the militia’s disagreement with the organizers, adding that the group would definitely make a comeback next year.

It wasn’t just local politics that was targeted by the parade’s participants — national politics couldn’t escape either.

“We’re here to celebrate [Uncle Sam’s] independence from his savings account,” said Bill Oakes, who along with friends — Kerry Callery and Roger and Sandy Desaulniers –– mocked the money-making tactics of major U.S. oil companies through his float.

Oakes, dressed up as a sheik and Callery, dressed up as “Big Oil,” stood atop a truck with signs reading “Shell out more,” and “Downwardly Mobile.”

Behind them trudged Roger Desaulniers, an impoverished Uncle Sam, dressed in nothing but his hat, sunglasses and a wooden barrel.

Like Oakes and his group, Kevin R. Bighinatti, of Woonsocket, also made a statement.

He rode his 1984 Honda Gold Wing motorcycle with a large sign reading, “Undereducated hardworking white guy making under $50,000 a year … voted for Obama.”

Bighinatti, who attended the parade for the third time, said it’s the only one that allows him the freedom to voice his views.

“You can be who you want and do what you want,” he said.

Many attendees said they choose Ancients and Horribles over other parades because of its over-the-top humor and local flavor.

“There’s a simplicity in this parade that touches the heart,” said Milton V. Menard, 93, of Cranston, who attended with Anna, his wife of 68 years.

“It’s the real thing,” he said.

njayakri@projo.com