St. Paddy's Parade, Good News, & Ice Out!

I must confess that until this past weekend I hadn't even gone to the giant Holyoke St. Paddy's Day parade. I'd heard plenty of stories about how big (3rd largest in the U.S. next to NYC & Chicago.) and fun and crazy it can get. I've even been invited to a couple route-side parties. But I just never got myself over there. Well, not only did I go to the parade this year, I was in it! I was recruited by Briana and the rest of the Easthampton City Arts gang to march along as they introduced Holyoke to the upcoming Easthampton BearFest. (Granted, many on the sidelines were yelling, 'Go Beerfest!', but as you can see by the crowd photos, I'd say that was to be expected.)

Before I get to the images of the ECA gang, I had to snap this one of the ice cream float in line in front of us... And the Opa-Opa float behind us...



The Easthampton High School band provided the fine live music (and admittedly some flashbacks of my old marching band days) for our 3 mile afternoon stroll through the Holyoke streets of 300,000.

The streets were lined with people, from the K-Mart plaza to downtown, but there certainly were drinking hotspots..

Amy Davis' daughter Ava was a trooper. Granted, she got a lift, but to her credit, she never stopped waving those little hands...

Introducing Patty O'Bear, created by local artist Amy Davis. This is the first and only bear you'll see until the opening weekend of BearFest during ArtWalkEasthampton June 13th.

Ok, you might also catch Greg Stone and his bear in the window of the Nashawannuck Gallery, but that it...

Not to be confused with our buddy Trace Meek, in a bear suit, standing here with Briana Taylor. Ice Sculpture, character acting, web design, the man can do it all...

Another party spot...

The ECA 'float'...

And entourage...

One of the cooler parts of the parade, the Shriner's in their crazy little cars...


There was a lot of waiting around before the start, but I must admit it was a fun experience.

And, in keeping with the upbeat, I thought this was an interesting article to pass along. A theme I've latched onto a lot of late... Selling the Silver Lining. A mainstream publication admitting the news is disproportionately bad, who would have thought...

My neighbor's cats took the break in the weather a few days ago as a chance to get some sun...

And last but not least, the ice is finally out on the Nashawannuck Pond. Yesterday it was there. Today it is not... March 24th, not sure if that's early, late, or just about average. Anybody keeping track of that here? Minesota's pretty good about this stuff. There must be somebody with a little notebook...

Ok, warm weather, you're welcome to come back . Hope to see it, and you, soon.