WAKEFIELD HIGH SCHOOL cheerleaders marched in the 1940 July 4th Parade, followed by the WHS Marching Band. That year, the parade had to be postponed from Thursday, July 4 to Saturday, July 6 due to weather. “July 4, 1940 turned out to be the dullest, coldest and wettest in many years,” the Item reported at the time. “In fact, it was the coldest in the 44-year history of the Weather Bureau.” Morning downpours prompted the postponement and temperatures remained stuck in the 50s for most of the day. The weather was much more seasonable when the parade finally got underway on Saturday. Back then, the parade took a much different route than it does today. With World War I hero Colonel Edward J. Connelly serving as chief marshal, the 1940 parade started at the State Armory (now called the Americal Civic Center) and headed north on Main Street to Common Street, taking a left onto Church Street. Marchers then crossed North Avenue went over the railroad tracks to Prospect Street and took a left on Cedar Street, crossing Chestnut Street before heading west on Gould Street and then east on Albion Street. The parade ended at Moulton Playground near the headquarters of the West Side Social Club, which organized and ran the parade.