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Baltimore has one, and a crier also serves both Leesburg and neighboring Waterford. There are town criers throughout the United States, Canada and England, and there is even an American Guild of Town Criers. Slate could cry at 97 decibels without doing himself serious damage is a question I cannot answer," said Liz Milner, a spokeswoman for the Office of Historic Alexandria. That's louder than a leaf blower and 12 decibels above the level considered harmful to the human ear. "Oyez, oyez, welcome one and all," Slate would bellow in an ear-splitting 97-decibel shout which, in 1990, won him an international championship for town criers. He would appear in parades, historical reenactments, school programs and at business openings. He would ring an authentic 18th-century bell and would hand-write his proclamations on parchment. Slate's wife, Anne, a historian by profession who died in 1996, sewed their authentic Colonial attire, now on display at Gadsby's Tavern Museum in Alexandria. He died May 27, leaving a legacy as a history enthusiast devoted to bringing the Colonial period to life. The honorary city position was created by Francis Taylor Slate, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, who for 20 years presided over historical celebrations in Alexandria. The crier "is what brings to life our history," she said. "Del" Pepper (D), who noted that George Washington slept, ate, danced, worshiped and worked in the historic city. The 1700s and Colonial period are alive and well in Alexandria," said City Council member Redella S. The town crier "personifies what our whole history is all about. But the city promises you'll have a place in history. Oh, and the crier must provide his or her own Colonial attire.
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Knowledge of Alexandria's city protocol is a must, as is endurance. He or she must possess excellent public-speaking and writing skills, a sense of humor and a love of children, parades, crowds and tourists. In an era of instant global communications - when Washingtonians are chatting with Afghans at the click of a mouse - the City of Alexandria is looking for an old-fashioned town crier.Īpplicants, the city says, should have a powerful voice, lungs of steel and a willingness to make public appearances in heavy, wool 18th-century attire - in winter and sweltering summer.