Monday, March 13, 2000
Weather smiles on parade
St. Patrick's celebration draws crowd
BY SARA J. BENNETT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
In terms of weather, organizers of Cincinnati's 34th St. Patrick's Parade had the luck of the Irish on their side.
Snow that thinned crowds at last year's celebration missed this year's parade. It fell Saturday night and melted before pipers started to warm up Sunday afternoon.
Jack Frey, 6, of Kenwood dressed as a leprechaun for Sunday's St. Patrick's Day Parade, which he watched with his family on East Eighth Street, downtown.
(Gary Landers photo)
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Sunny but chilly skies greeted spectators, who lined downtown streets, waved Irish flags and wore emerald top hats adorned with shamrocks. Jack Frey, 6, of Kenwood, showed up in a bright green leprechaun suit with a reddish beard drawn on his freckled face. He clutched a handmade “pot o' gold” to collect candy thrown from the floats.
“He really believes he's a leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day,” whispered Jack's mother, Katie Frey, adding that her son's name may be German, but “The rest is all Irish.”
St. Patrick's Day — the annual celebration of Irish culture named for the man credited with bringing Christianity to the island nation — is Friday. Cincinnati started celebrating early.
More than 165 groups marched west from Eggleston Avenue and East Eighth Street, south on Vine Street, then east on Fifth Street back to Eggleston.
There were several drum and bagpipe corps, the 35-piece “Clonoe” band from Northern Ireland, family floats, vehicles carrying local politicians, and plenty wearing of the green. Broadcaster Nick Clooney served as grand marshal.
Tom Flynn of Mount Airy carried a long pole with a stuffed leprechaun attached to one end. He scurried from one side of the street to the other, tapping people with the doll.
“There's a little touch of luck for you,” he told folks. “If the leprechaun gives you a little kiss, it's good luck!”
Mr. Flynn marched with his extended family, which won an award for the best family float. Playing off the parade's theme, “Communication Through the Ages,” the family made cell phones, a satellite dish, and a computer power pack out of papier-mache potatoes.
Despite the brisk temperatures that nipped at spectators under the shade of downtown buildings, parade organizers were pleased that the weather remained dry.
Asked whether there was anything new or special about Sunday's parade, Co-chairman Jeremiah Sweeney crowed, “Yeah, the sun came out! We had a beautiful day!”
Although Cincinnati's St. Patrick's Parade attracts people of all backgrounds with the promise of lighthearted fun, the event has deeper meaning to those with Irish connections.
Jack Frey's family has traced its Irish roots back several generations. They come to Cincinnati's parade each year.
“I think it's important for all of us to know where our roots are from,” Katie Frey said.
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