Early St. Patrick Parade in the Bronx



With so many local parades scheduled this past weekend to celebrate St. Patrick, I decided to go check out  the one in Throggs Neck, Bronx, NY. I arrived early in order to find a good parking spot and also check out the area since this was my first time covering this parade. A group of men from the Plumbers Union Local 1 were gathered at the corner of Lafayette and Logan picking up their T shirts and Caps for their walk. Everyone was in high spirits and greeting each other.  As I turned the corner at East Tremont Ave (Parade Route) I noticed that even the yellow dividing traffic line on the ground was painted green in the middle.

I was happy to see a group of young girls selling Girl Scouts cookies from Troup 1045. I purchased a box of Thin Mints and Lemon cookies.  Since I had some spare time I decided to get a cup of coffee at McDonalds (Nice Irish name) saw this couple all decked out in their Irish greens waiting for the parade to start.  They were nice to let me take their picture.

Around 11:30 crowds of adults, children and even pets (mostly dogs) started to gather to get a good spot to view the parade. Local Bronx and Westchester school marching bands were greeting each other and getting in place. The kids were all happy to have their pictures taken. Taylor all dressed up in his Cub Scout uniform from Villa Maria Academy was all smiles wearing the cool hat his father brought him as well as the young girls from the same school chatting up a storm but were all smiles to pose for me

I came upon so many cute kids all dressed up for the occasion especially the 3 year old triplets Connor, Dennis and Bridget, the lovely girls from The School of Irish Dancing, a very stylish little girl with her green hat, glasses and boa around her neck, the girl with the green ribbon on her pig tails and the one with the green pompom headband

 Mayor Bloomberg arrived posed for pictures and the parade was on its way. The traditional bagpipes and marching bands from different colleges and local schools took to the street and marched past the cheering crowd. Iona College, Sword of Light Local 3, Manhattan College, Kerry Pipers, FDNY Emerald Society, NY State Courts Pipes and Drums, The New York Ancients-Fife & Drum Corp as well as St. Raymond Academy and Cardinal Spellman HS marching band all played very well. The cheerleaders-Ravens-from St Raymond Elementary school, children from local school PS 14 and PS71 and Pampering Arts Day Camp were there also happy, cheering and waving at the crowd.

 I did a double take when I saw a young priest on skate board flying by, he had a big smile on his face when he saw me laughing.  As the parade ended and was walking back to my car I came upon this bulldog AKA-Winston- with his green toenails and green collar. He was the favorite with the children. All he wanted was to be petted and given treats.

For more pictures click on this blog’s photo links and 

CNN-ireport links: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-571536

and http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-571535