2008 FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION CHIEF MARSHAL

General Chairman David Burns announced at the Bristol Fourth of July Committee's April 9th General Committee meeting his selection for the 223rd Bristol Fourth of July Celebration's Chief Marshal as Edward Castro.

Our Chief Marshal for the 223rd Bristol Fourth of July Celebration is a native Bristolian and a 1960 graduate of Colt Memorial High School where he served as a class representative on the Student Council, Athletic Association and Senior Class Executive Committee. He played varsity baseball and basketball. He was selected to the Class C Baseball All Division Team. At graduation exercises he received the Pasquale C. Raiola Memorial Award in recognition of his outstanding scholastic and athletic achievements. He attended Bryant College where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and New Bedford Institute of Technology majoring in Mechanical Engineering.

Mr. Castro began his career in 1961 with the George W. Dahl Company in Bristol as a Mechanical Design Draftsman. In 1964 he began a 40-year career with Raytheon Company in Portsmouth, R.I., retiring in 2005. While at Raytheon, he held management positions as Manager of the Data Management Group, Program Manager for Submarine Fleet Support and Program Control Manager for a major Submarine Sonar Program. He was elected to serve as Secretary of the Raytheon Management Association and served as a Program Office delegate for Raytheon's annual United Way Fundraising Campaign.

He enlisted in the Rhode Island National Guard in 1961 and attended the Army's Nike Missile Training Center at Fort Bliss, Texas. His National Guard unit was the 2nd Howitzer Battalion, Battery C, 103D Artillery, located in Bristol.

His community service in Bristol begins at an early age. As a teenager, he was a YMCA Day-Camp Counselor at Camp Hess on Hog Island. Later on in life, he volunteered his services as Treasurer of the King Philip Little League. He also volunteered as a baseball coach for Bristol's Babe Ruth Baseball League. For 15 years, he volunteered his time to the Bristol school district by offering utdoor gardening classes to grammar school children. He taught youngsters how to effectively start and maintain their own gardens. During that time, over 2,000 students received hands-on instructions on how to start and maintain their own gardens. He has hosted garden tours for the Bristol Garden Club, and for other groups that stop by to view his garden. In 2005, he volunteered as a gardening lecturer at Blithewold's annual Fall Gardener's Day. His presentation was focused on techniques for propagating shrubs, and grafting fruit trees. In 2006, his garden was selected by the Bristol Garden Club, and Mosaico Community Development Corp., as one of Bristol's most impressive Portuguese gardens. The group organized an "open to the public tour" of his garden as a means for raising funds to support the Mosaico Mentoring Program, and the Bristol Garden Club's Scholarship Fund. He enjoys giving tours of his garden and sharing his knowledge of landscape design, T-bud grafting on fruit trees and roses, propagating unique shrubs, and planting a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.

Our Chief Marshal has received several honors. In 1988, he received a Commendation from the Bristol School Committee for his service to the grammar school students of the district. The Commendation was issued in recognition of his many years of volunteering to teach gardening skills to 1st and 2nd grade students. In 1997, he was recognized by the Providence Journal as an East Bay Gardening Mentor for children. His involvement with mentoring children in the art of gardening was featured in the Home Section of the Providence Journal. He is a member of the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society, Friends of Linden Place and Blithewold Gardens

He enjoys spending time with his family, playing with his two precious grandchildren, playing golf, walking, collecting Bristol memorabilia, and reading books on Bristol history. He enjoys giving tours of his garden, and sharing his knowledge of landscape design, T-bud grafting on fruit trees and roses, propagating unique shrubs, and planting a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.
He is the son of the late Alvaro, and Albina Castro, and the son-in-law of Mary Vieira Oliveira, and the late Luis Alves Oliveira.

He is married to his high school sweetheart, the former Rachel Oliveira. They have been happily married for 45 years and are the proud parents of two sons, Paul and Stephen. Paul is a life-long resident of Bristol. He is employed as a Financial Analyst at the Northrop Grumman Corp., located in Middletown, RI. Stephen resides in Jupiter, FL with his wife Cindy and their two children, Olivia Nicole (4 yrs), and Andrew Luis (2 yrs). He is self employed as the owner of Swimservice Co., Inc., a swimming pool service company.

Congratulations to Edward Castro, the 223rd Bristol Fourth of July Celebration Chief Marshal!