The tiny boat was stuffed with hay; a bit of kerosene soaked into the sails.

Suddenly, 2021 was the distant future. The men and women gathered in Pawtuxet Park became early American colonists awaiting the arrival of hated British customs ship, the Gaspee.

It was 1772, and the first armed conflict of the American Revolution was about to be remembered with cannon fire and flames.

“It could peter out or become a mushroom cloud,” said Gina Dooley, President of the Gaspee Days Committee.

Nerves were on edge as the boat floated slowly into the bay from the ramp next to Aspray Boat House.

Will it float? Will it burn?

Things were different this year. Everything has been different since the pandemic.

“Last year, we had to cancel everything because of COVID,” Dooley recalled. “We had to cancel all our events. But this year, because we still weren’t sure what the COVID restrictions would be, planning was difficult.”

This year’s anniversary burning of the Gaspee was also different.

Prior to departing the shore, Steve Miller, second vice president of the committee and next year’s president, prepared the vessel.

He connected wires to an ignition switch, and readied the remote.

“We tested it in a fire pit, but not on the boat,” Dooley said.

It had rained Saturday morning and flames seemed far from certain.

Jerry Peshka, past Gaspee Days president, helped Miller secure the wires and fire-bait the boat. At 3 p.m., this model of the Gaspee was expected to burn.

Instead of using a torch or lighter, organizers planned to ignite the ship with a remote control.

“Oh my God, we were so excited,” Dooley said. “We were saying silent prayers.”

A group of local re-enactors, members of the Pawtuxet Rangers 1774 RI Militia, loaded a canon, in anticipation of the vessel’s arrival.

“The Rangers were the first chartered fife and drum and militia lighting the ceremonial cannon shot, the signal to Miller to ignite the boat.

Pawtuxet Rangers Sgt. Major Dennis Pacheco kept onlookers a safe distance from the canon. It was ready to fire.

group in the state,” Dooley said.

As president of the committee, Dooley was responsible for Dooley held the smoldering wick to the rear of the cannon. A deafening boom and acrid smoke filled the park.

“For a few seconds, nothing was happening, but then all of a sudden we saw the flames coming out of the Gaspee,” Dooley said. “We were very relieved.”

Sgt. Christopher Kenney played his drums, the percussion echoing off surrounding buildings.

About 249 years earlier, a group of Rhode Island men had finished planning a daring raid of the schooner.

“A group of original colonists, including men like Abraham Whipple and John Brown and Sam Adams, were trying to get the best of the British Crown,” Dooley explained. “The Gaspee was a revenue schooner, empowered by King George, to board every ship and fluke in the bay. There had been very disgruntled meetings by the colonists.”

A small boat called The Hannah helped set the event in motion.

“The Gaspee was chasing The Hannah, which was in Newport, sailing back to Providence,” Dooley said. “The Hannah deliberately sailed over the sandbar at Namquid Point (now Gaspee Point), and led the Gaspee over the sandbar.”

The British ship was stranded.

“Word got out,” Dooley said. “It was now or never.”

A group of men in Sabin Tavern in Providence had plotted a raid, using eight longboats. It was time to launch the attack.

The siege left the Gaspee’s British captain wounded, the ship burned and her crew taken prisoner.

Three years before the battles of Concord and Lexington, many Ocean State historians consider the burning of the Gaspee to be the first armed conflict of the American Revolution, preceding the Boston Tea Party.

Now it’s the finale to Warwick’s Gaspee Days Celebration.

“It was an overall great success,” Dooley said. “We broke a record for our parade collection trucks; $6,137. We’ve never gone over $6,000.”

Next year marks the 250th anniversary.

“We’re making plans for over and above anything we’ve done before,” Dooley said.

The community was hungry for this year’s celebration, after a year of lockdown, uncertainty and grief.

“We were amazed at the overwhelming support we received,” Dooley said. “We were shocked at how fast we reached our goal. The community was saying, ‘Yes we want this parade and we want to help.’”

Firefighters on a boat used a hose to extinguish the burning Gaspee on Saturday.

The event organizers returned to the present. They had succeeded.

“I felt a great sense of relief,” Dooley said. “I slept for 14 hours on Saturday.”