Love St. Patrick's Day
Celebrate St. Patrick’s
Day with these words as you lift your glass to friends and family:
May
the road rise up to meet you
And
may the wind always be at your back
May
the sun shine warm upon your face
And
the raindrops fall soft upon your fields
And
until we meet again
May
God hold you in the small of his hand
A GREAT DAY FOR THE IRISH
There may be always an Ireland, and beyond
that lovely prospect, always 100 parades around the world to celebrate
March 17th.
But from 11:00 a.m. until about 3:00 p.m.
on an island called Manhattan, where a green stripe runs down the middle
of Fifth Avenue from 44th to 86th Street, The St. Patrick’s Day
Parade is one of New York City’s greatest traditions.
On St. Patrick’s Day a kind of wonderful
delirium takes over in Gotham.
Everyone is Irish!
The annual procession marches up Fifth Avenue,
past St. Patrick’s Cathedral at 50th Street, all the way up past
the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 83rd Street.
The St. Patrick’s Day parade in NYC
began even before there was a United States of America in 1766, when Irishmen
from Ireland’s Revolutionary War brought the tradition here.
Military units continued to march each year
until after the War of 1812, when local Irish fraternal and beneficial
societies began sponsoring the event.
In those days, the parade was quite small,
marching from local Irish meeting halls to Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral
in Lower Manhattan on Mott & Prince Streets.
By 1851, the groups had banded together,
nominating a Grand Marshall and increasing the size of the parade.
This was when the Irish 69th Regiment (now
the 165th Infantry) became the lead marchers, and the Ancient Order of
Hibernians became the official sponsor.
We love St. Patrick’s Day.
It’s when the “Irishrey”
of New York come out in full celebration. Look into the faces of the uniformed
services, especially the NYC Firefighters and you will get it right away.
We also like that St. Patrick’s Day
Parade remains true to its roots by not allowing floats, automobiles and
other commercial overkill.
Marching, great bands, bagpipes fill the
air as more than 150,000 people from all over the country and the world
celebrates here in New York.
We will gather the clan this Sunday and eat the
traditional dinner, loving every bit until our hands get tired. Then we'll
pull out the family album—laugh until we choke a couple of times—and
eat some more!
HAPPY SAINT PATRICKS DAY 2019!
Geoffrey
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Vol.
18 No. 16
100%
Green