Westport’s Oldest Man Receives Birthday Parade He’ll Never Forget

It's not every day you come across a 104-year-old, but in the small town of Westport, you just might catch him on one of his walks.

On Tuesday, May 19, Edmond Beaulieu was surprised with a special birthday parade that he'll never forget. For anyone who knows Beaulieu can tell you that there's still a lot of life left in the man who prefers to be called "Fast Eddy."

Fast Eddy is a lover of cars, hot rods and antiques – especially from the 1940's-1970's era – and has lived in farming town for his entire 104 years. He gets his nickname from his local car circuit club he's been a member of for quite some time and on Tuesday afternoon, over 100 of those muscle cars, old school Cadillacs and Chevrolets lined up off of Sanford Road and began a parade route towards Fast Eddy's house.

As the parade was escorted by the help of the Westport Police Department, hundreds of show cars made their way up Sanford road, where one of the cars picked up Fast Eddy for a quick cruise to the parking lot of Our Lady of Grace and then back to his house again.

"He had no clue this was happening," grandson Brian Beaulieu said. "He liked seeing everyone and he likes the cars that were driven by a good group of his friends."

Although the parade had many participants and helpers, one local from Westport took the reigns of the horse and took charge of planning Fast Eddy's grand parade.

"It was started by Dave Palmer," Brian Beaulieu said. "He's one of the 4th of July Parade committee members as well as the president of the organization. He's a good friend of the family, and it was him who he came up with the idea."

So if anyone's wondering what you get a man who has spent his entire life in Westport, working the years away and making an honest living as an auto mechanic at a place called Beaulieu's Garage (it's still there today) that he bought back in the 40's – there's not really much. However, you can drive past his house with a fancy old car and I guarantee you, his smile alone will be worth it.