Picture Connecticut: That's A Tall Uncle Sam

VERNON, CT — It was just a few minutes into Tuesday's annual July in the Sky fireworks celebration in Vernon when out he came.

It was Uncle Sam — on stilts — leading the Push, Pedal and Pull Patriotic Parade, which is part of the annual event.

So is the presence of Uncle Sam, who is played by Nathan Galligan, who took over last year as the character for his grandfather, Bryan Flint, who tragically passed away in a car crash just months earlier. Flint was Vernon's original Uncle Sam, the town's magician and an advocate for the homeless and less fortunate.

The Vernon show takes place each year on the Tuesday after the Fourth. It is one of the biggest and latest Independence Day shows in the state.

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Picture Connecticut is a weekly series that features images of the state, past and present. Here are past images:

2024

• A CT Olympic Connection, Manchester
• Fireworks, behind the scenes, Vernon
• A Riverside Stroll, Hockanum River
• The 29th Connecticut Monument, New Haven
• Hangin' in the Hangar, Windsor Locks
• The Little Drummer Boy, Bridgeport
• The 14th Connecticut, Gettysburg
• A sculpture for a Famous Sculptor, West Hartford
• The Attack of the Flamingos, anywhere
• Historic Tower Turns Red, Vernon
• Eagle Rock, Hebron

• The Cirque, Hartford
• The Amerbelle Spillway, Rockville
• The ECSU Gallery, Willimantic
• Great Captain Island, Greenwich
• Bobblehead Madness, Storrs
• Bobby Sands/Hunger Strike Memorial, Hartford
• Mr. Jonathan Goes To Hartford, Hartford
• The Latest Discount Airline, New Haven
• State Groundhog Gets Arrested, Manchester
• Historic Wartime Sutures, Willington
• Big Business Week In CT, statewide
• The Marketplace at Guilford Food Center Guilford
• Main Street at night, Middletown
• The Hide-and-Seek Bear, Tolland
• The MLK Mural, Manchester
• The Mount Southington Summit, Southington

2023

• All Faiths Gather At Town Park, Vernon
• Riverside Igloos, Milford
• The TPC Pro Shop, Cromwell
• The Santa House, North Pole, er, Northern Connecticut
• Mile 4 Funnel, Manchester Road Race, Manchester
• UConn Lacrosse Giving Back, Connecticut River Valley
• The Capitol Grounds Tour, Part 3, Hartford
• The Capitol Grounds Tour, Part 2, Hartford
• The Capitol Grounds Tour, Part 1, Hartford
• The Doughboy, East Hartford
• The Walt Whitman Stone, West Hartford
• The indoor bush plane, Hartford County
• The Big Pink Chair, Ellington
• The Notch, Granby
• The CT 9/11 Monument, Westport
• Vintage Gas Pump, Somers
• Tobacco Harvest, East Windsor
• Late Afternoon, Lakeside, Coventry
• Fogarea, New Haven County
• Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens, Washington Depot
• Connecticut River Police Boat, Rocky Hill
• The first dentist, Windsor
• The Frog Bridge, Willimantic
• The World War Bridge Rapids, Putnam
• The Peeking Cow, Tolland County
• The Ivy Lacrosse Tournament, New Canaan
• The Bradley International Airport runway, Windsor Locks
• The Underground Railroad, Unionville
• The cow carousel, Ellington
• Charles Island, Milford
• State Veterans Cemetery, Middletown
• Glastonbury-Rocky Hill Ferry, Glastonbury/Rocky Hill
• The Old County Jailhouse, Tolland
• Agent Orange Monument, Andover
• The Sunken Garden, Farmington
• Lafayette Tour Monument, Vernon
• The Pinchot Sycamore, Simsbury
• Bob's Discount Furniture Studios, Manchester