This one was well worth the wait.
After two decades of strutting across the slippery surface to no avail at the beloved St. Peter’s Fiesta Greasy Pole Contest, Gloucester’s own Frank Neal is finally a champion.
Leading a collection of 40-plus walkers for Friday evening’s marquee event, Neal captured the ever-elusive flag at the end of the 45-foot telephone pole, plunging into the water as chants of “Frankie! Frankie! Frankie!” began pouring down from a jam-packed crowd at Pavilion Beach.
Neal, who was in his 21st year at the competition, was at a loss for words as he was paraded through the streets of Gloucester on the shoulders of his fellow competitors.
“I’m just tired. I have no idea how I did it; I blacked out,” said Neal, still catching his breath from all the excitement. “I don’t know what happened, (but) it’s been a long time coming.”
The first walker to go in the courtesy round — a “trial” round if you will, where every contestant gets the chance to walk once before the official competition begins — Neal got off to a solid start. He then made it to the near halfway point on his second attempt, which was about as far as anyone else got in each of the first two rounds.
His victorious trek across the incredibly slimy pole ultimately came in Round 3 (the second competitive round), as he kicked things off with a confident stride to the end before emphatically snagging the coveted flag.
“Frankie’s the best guy going right now,” said Cam DeCoste, a former Gloucester High School standout athlete and regular greasy pole contestant who was once again in the mix on Friday.
“I’ve been walking 13 years, we go to (Neal’s) house for the party before this … there’s no better guy to win this thing.”
Decoste spoke for everyone else involved in saying that Neal’s triumph wasn’t just for him, but for all the other walkers who have watched him attack this competition with pride and grit year in and year out.
“We’re ecstatic. It feels like we won; he won but we won,” said DeCoste. “There’s just no better guy to win it; he’s just a down to earth guy and he deserves every minute of this.”
Neal’s victory was somewhat of a pleasant surprise, as nobody before him really came close. Most years there’s at least a few walkers to reach the three-quarter mark or beyond over the first couple of rounds, but that simply wasn’t the case in Friday’s opener for the competition.
Joe D’Amico had a decent bid in Round 1 before Lenny Russo had the then-best walk by surpassing the midway point of the pole in swift fashion before falling. Jerry Ciaramitaro then made it to about the same point, falling forward and appearing to knock off some more of the grease on his way down to the water.
Marcus Martin had another highlight walk, while the lone female participant, Catherine Frontiero, made a valiant effort as well. Domenic Paone also gave fans something to cheer about when he slipped just steps onto the pole but managed to pull himself back up to his feet, regroup for a moment, and front flip into the water.
But in the end, it was Neal and only Neal who reached the summit, officially etching his name into Greasy Pole lore.
“It’s not easy,” added Decoste. “It was real slick today, and he just made it look easy.”
As is tradition, Neal will now return to the pole on Saturday to lead the next set of walkers for Day 2 of the competition.