SALEM — Nobody can accuse the Salem Hibernians of not doing everything in their power to try to will the Patriots to victory in Super Bowl XLVI.
The local chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians threw the party of parties last night at its Boston Street hall.
They had a huge video screen on one wall; TVs around the main function room; football banners; red, white and blue balloons on tables; and dozens of members and guests decked out in New England Patriots jerseys.
Even the club's board chairman, Tom Tardiff, was there.
And why wouldn't he be — he's a season-ticket holder, along with other club members.
But this party had something way beyond that, something you wouldn't find at any other Super Bowl party in New England.
They had the End Zone Militia, the Colonial-era re-enactors who fire off muskets at Gillette Stadium after a Patriots touchdown and who are known to TV audiences across the country.
All 25 members weren't there, but they had six End Zone Militia, led by Salem's own Henry Rutkowski.
Before the start of the game, the militia marched to the rear of the AOH, lined up in perfect order, and fired their flintlocks into the quiet of a cold, moonlit night.
As the guns blared and smoke rose over the club's parking lot, members cheered "Go Patriots!" from perches on the back staircase and pavement.
"They went light (on the gunpowder), so it wouldn't be too loud," said Ed Ronan of Salem, a Patriots season-ticket holder.
The volleys could be heard for some distance, certainly on tiny Beaver Street, which runs right behind the club. Fortunately, club member Ed Mercier, a teacher, dropped off fliers before the game alerting neighbors that the End Zone Militia was coming.
It must have worked.
"We actually got no calls, believe it or not," police Lt. Mary Butler said.
The End Zone Militia, a volunteer group, didn't make the trip to Indianapolis for last night's Super Bowl. So, for them, they did the next best thing.
"This is fun," said Bill Quinlan of Reading. "We like being with the crowd."
The militia was invited here by Peter Gifford, a Salem police sergeant who has been a season-ticket holder for almost 30 years. There is a connection, it turns out, between a group of North Shore season-ticket holders and the Colonial re-enactors.
Gifford, Ronan, John "Westy" West of Peabody and seven others not only go to every Patriots home game, but they sit in Section 135 — in the front row.
They know all the End Zone Militia.
They sit right next to them.
"They go by us all the time slapping high-fives," Gifford said.
So it was no surprise the militia were thrilled to be invited to a big-time party with longtime friends.
"When I found out it was these guys, I said, 'I'm in,'" said re-enactor Janie Ritchie of North Andover.
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