It's not over till we say it's over

It's 12:30 Sunday afternoon, March 20,2011. St. Patrick's Day is pretty much over, there are still people in Pearl River marching in their parade and a celebration will follow but by and large the holiday is over. This may seem strange to those of you that think that St. Patrick's Day is a one day event but for us Irish it's at least a week, or as I call it, the holy week.

St. Patrick's Day started for me on Friday March 11. I went to the Albany Hibernians to see the entertainer Danny Quinn. This was a pre, pre parade event. Emmett, Chris and Amy met up with Mr.Cromie for a fun night.

Saturday March 12, was parade day. Unlike the unruly mob in the early morning hours we waited till noon to start. Sean, Sara, Mike, Jess and I met up with Sam at the Ontario St parade headquarters. a little after one the girls headed downtown and the men bused over to central ave to await the 2pm step off.Although there was no rain or snow, a wind made the day a bit cold. Mike was the highlight of the Saratoga Hibernians, high fiving and wishing the crowd a happy St. Patrick's Day along the route. His good cheer was rewarded with good cheer and a cookie by the hugh crowds. After the parade we returned to the Hibernians to relax and enjoy food and drink, the girls and Tom joined us and the party was almost complete. We returned to Saratoga and made our way to the Irish Times to hear the Fighting 86's on what they were calling prat ice day. It was fun to see the other people that had been to the parade during the day extending the celebration into the wee hours.

Sunday, March 13, was the Saratoga Hibernian's Family Festival. Again the Saratoga/Wilton Elks opened their doors to us and a wonderful afternoon of Irish music, dance and fare were offered to the public. Jack and Margaret were able to make the party after missing the parade due to rehearsal of the Saratoga Springs High School play. Some of Jack's friends also joined in and got up to sing a few tunes. The Wild Irish Acres dancers performed and then went into the crowd bringing back people to the dance floor to learn a couple of Irish dances. John Cromie and Paul Quinn supplied Irish music as well as members of the Pan Celtic session players. Because of these talented people the day was a great success.

Thursday, March 17, St. Patrick's Day. The day started at 9am with breakfast at the Irish Times. The 86's played at noon. By that time seven members of the Saratoga AOH were together celebrating the day. Around 4pm I headed to Albany to meet up with some friends and the festivities continued into the night.

Saturday March 19. I headed to Delhi, NY for their first St. Patrick's Day Parade. I went with the Fighting 86's and we set up in the Shire Pub. The Schenectady Pipe Band marched in the parade and made their way to the pub. Here I was a two hour drive from home, enjoying a parade with some cousins. Iain, Bill, Dona and Conor.
As you can see it was a very long week and the best part was spending time with family and friends.That's the difference between the Irish and the want to be Irish on St. Patrick's Day

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