Erin Go Brrrrr!!!!!

Friday we braved the weather and ventured downtown for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. Locals had told us that it is the biggest parade of the year. I thought it was odd that the biggest parade of the year could be held on a weekday at noon. On a school day. (Teachers had it easy, though, because I swear that every child in town was along the parade route.)


It was overcast and cold. I took a picture of the thermometer on the building across the street and, as you can see, it was not even 40 degrees outside. It was quite breezy, too. We dressed in layers and brought 2 of the warmest blankets we own. I was tempted to bring along the boys’ snowpants, but thought that might have been too much. We picnicked as we sat along the curb waiting for the parade to start.


At first, Colson was so excited to see all the people on the floats waving at him. Imagine that! Waving at him! He waved at everyone. Even the Hooters float. Yes. That Hooters. It had a float.

Apparently, you don’t need to have a particular reason for being in the parade other than simply wanting to. Several “clans” of people with Irish surnames drove through. There were several unmarked cars driving through. They were decorated with shamrocks and leprechauns, but we have no idea why they were there. My favorite was a long, flatbed trailer pulled by a tractor. On the trailer was a bunch of people sitting under blankets in camping chairs. They didn’t smile or wave. They didn’t throw candy. They weren’t even wearing green. They just were. Sitting. On a trailer. In a parade.

The parade volunteers threw more candy than I’ve ever seen. And beads! Mardi Gras-style beads of all colors were given to people in the crowd. Every time a float came by that distributed beads, people in the crowd would stretch out their hands and yell “Beads! Beads! Beads!” It reminded me of baby birds chirping for food when their mother returns to the nest. At one point, I caught the eye of someone on the float and pointed at Brogan, who had no beads. She tossed a string at his feet and he glowed! After that, every time candy or beads landed at his feet, he’d dance a bit on his tiptoes before trying to pick it up with his mittened hands.

One of my favorite sights was watching high schoolers across the street gather candy during the parade, and then pelt their classmates on the “Class of ‘07” float as it came by. All in good fun!

I thought this was a nice way to end the parade. This was the last entry. Sponsored by a local funeral home. Thankfully it was empty.


Halfway through the parade members of a local service organization drove their classic cars. Their labels stated the name of their category and then the organization. For example “Classic – Red Cross” or “ Antique – Red Cross.” The final group of cars bore the label “Topless – Red Cross.”

As luck would have it, the cars stopped and idled in front of a crowd of young men next to us. We all kind of chuckled at the idea of a topless Red Cross. The young men began good-naturedly began chanting “Take it off! Take it off!” at the quite elderly woman riding in the vehicle. She grinned at them, held out her hand and challenged them, “Where are my beads?” The guys laughed, handed her a couple of strings of beads, and resumed chanting “Take it off! Take it off!"

She put the beads around her neck and then……………


Wait for it……………..

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she took off her hat.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!