After leading the charge to help area veterans get assistance and recognition, fighting against LNG in Mt. Hope Bay and tolls on the bridge, and leading the House Finance Committee as its chairman, Bristol resident and state Rep. Raymond Gallison will take on another leadership role, one that he calls “an overwhelming honor.”

“Typically, (the honor) goes to someone who does a lot for the community,” General Chairman Ray Lavey said of his choice. “He rose to the top.”

On Wednesday, April 1, the Bristol Fourth of July Committee held its monthly meeting inside the Burnside Memorial Building, where Mr. Lavey introduced Mr. Gallison as the chief marshal for the 2015 Bristol Fourth of July Celebration. Mr. Gallison’s wife, Diane, and their two sons, Timothy and Nathan, shared in the excitement of Bristol’s time-honored tradition.

While selecting the chief marshal is at the sole discretion of the general chairman, many associated with the committee offer suggestions of who they feel is deserving of the honor.

“I considered many people, but he was my first choice,” Mr. Lavey said.

The decision, made months ago, had been kept under wraps as one of Bristol’s best-kept secrets. Mr. Gallison vividly recalled the telephone conversation with Mr. Lavey, still showing the same emotion he felt when Mr. Lavey first contacted him.

“I was in my office when he called me. He said he had to ask me something. I thought he was calling to ask me about a legislative grant that I’ve done every year,” Mr. Gallison said of the conversation. The actual reason for Mr. Lavey’s call caught the representative off guard.

“His answer was instantaneous. I actually had no thought of a back-up,” Mr. Lavey said, relieved that Mr. Gallison accepted the invitation.

With Rep. Gallison sworn to secrecy, few people knew about the selection. Family members are an exception.

“I wanted to tell my wife and the boys right away,” he said. He called each with a veiled description of why he needed to see them. His urgency and atypical secrecy was unsettling to his family.

“He scared me,” Mrs. Gallison said. “He said I had to come home right away.”

His assurance that “it’s nothing bad” did little to ease her mind, however. When the family was together, she said, “he was laughing.”

“All these thoughts were going through my mind,” Mr. Gallison said. “What an honor. Unreal.”

The official announcement came as a sigh of relief to the family who has been planning in secrecy for the past few months. “By coincidence, we sat next to Ray (Lavey) and his wife at St. Mary’s at Christmas. I couldn’t look at him,” Mr. Gallison said.

His trips to the local grocery store have been equally difficult, he said, bursting with the news he couldn’t tell.

The Gallison family is sharing the responsibilities, duties and honor that come with being named chief marshal for the Bristol Fourth of July parade. With the many social events still to come, Mr. Gallison will balance his duties in the state General Assembly with his duties as chief marshal, approaching both with enthusiasm.

With Mr. Gallison’s extensive career in public service, Mrs. Gallison a former teacher, and both sons being police officers, their circle of friends, family and close acquaintances is far-reaching. Looking forward to the festivities, the family is already assembling its guest list of chief, junior chief, military and civilian aides who will accompany them at events and along the two-and-a-half-mile parade route.

“There have been some people who I’ve worked very closely with and people I know in town who work behind the scenes that people don’t know about,” he said of putting together the list of aides.

Mr. Gallison is looking forward to honoring some people who have “gone without the recognition they deserve.”

For the family, the Bristol Fourth of July parade is familiar ground. Mr. Gallison attended his first parade in 1974 when he was dating his wife, missing only one when they were on their honeymoon in 1978. Since then, he’s marched in 15 parades, once as a division marshal, once carrying his then 2-year-old son, Nathan. Timothy Gallison, a member of the Bristol Police Department Honor Guard, is an annual participant, and Nathan Gallison, a volunteer member of the Bristol Fire Department, is traditionally somewhere along the route, helping keep the crowd safe.

“This is definitely a family event,” Mr. Gallison said.

Timothy Gallison was especially proud of his father’s accomplishments and the honor of being named chief marshal. All are looking forward to their first steps on the parade route after cutting the ceremonial ribbon at Hope and Chestnut streets.

“A lot of people don’t see the whole picture of what he does,” he said of the weekend and late night phone calls, and his father’s attempts to satisfy the myriad of requests from people in the community and across the state. “We’re very excited. It’s well deserved.”