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More Units to March in St. Patrick's Day Parade, Including Red Hat Society

Friends of Celtic Culture Seeing Green in Their Future as Music Takes Hold

March 10, 2005       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

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The 2004 St. Patrick's Day Parade drew enormous crowds as this photo of the event east on Center at Madison shows the Strathroy, Ontario, Pipe Band, followed by the Parade Association float.
Photo Andy Rogers

 

      The St. Patrick's Day celebration is traditionally Bay City's way to shake off the winter blues.

      For half a century the activities have been limited to a week or two in mid-March. But lately the events have begun in February and are more varied and have an increasingly cultural focus.

      New groups associated with the Irish event have formed, including the Friends of Celtic Culture, adding to the revelry.

      Perhaps the added promotion is spreading because thenumber of units in the 51st St. Patrick's Day Parade on Sunday, March 20, already have outpaced last year's 50th anniversary event.

      Rose and Irv McEachern, veteran parade volunteers, report that 126 units already are signed up, while last year the unit total was 120. "And that doesn't include the units at the front of the parade," said Mrs. McEachern.

      Three Saginaw bands, Saginaw High and the Saginaw Central Original Band and Buena Vista High School, will liven up the festivities.

      Garber, Central and Western high school bands will provide the hometown pride in sashaying up Center Avenue for what band members hope will not be too chilly an experience.

      The Red Hat Society, a group of colorful ladies in more ways than one, join the parade this year to strut their sartorial chapeaus in front of the crowd.


      "We're getting a lot more out of town units, from Mt. Pleasant, Standish, Pinconning and Clio, for example," said Mrs. McEachern. "It's a lot more spread out."

      Parade Marshal Eileen Marshall will lead the grand cavalcade and will preside over the flag raising ceremony at 9 a.m. Sunday, March 20, at the Bay County Building.

      Saturday night's George Walsh Irish Ball gets the festivities kicking at the Village Hall. (Cocktails, 6 p.m., dinner 6:45 p.m., dancing to dj music 8:30-12. Call 892-0835 for tickets, limited to 300.) The Strathroy Bagpipers from Canada provide the musical entertainment.

      An outburst of Irish enthusiasm was drummed up by two bands in a recent "hoolie" at the Green Hut, setting the tone for a bigtime demonstration of spirit of the "auld sod" this month.

      Detroit Irish band "Diggers," backed up by Bay City's "Paddy Don't Drink" (that's the name of the band not a temperance pledge) conducted what the inimitable Denny Hayes called "a fun and frolicking fundraising spectacular from 8 p.m. until closing.

      Hayes heads the Friends of Celtic Culture, a non-profit group dedicated to promoting the art, music, dance and literature of the seven Celtic nations: Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Isle of Man, Galicia and Cornwall.

      Other officers of the group are Patti Loree, vice president; Pam Campau, treasurer; Nan Larkin, secretary; and Jerry Blondin, entertainment chair.

      The "Friends" recently hosted a return visit by Irish troubadour Derek Warfield and his "Wolf Tones" at the Westown to kick off the month of March andset the stage for Bay City's grand St. Patrick's Day Parade and on-going festivities.

      Last year the Celtic folk band "Switchback" "went over smashingly in concerts at Old City Hall and the Green Hut," said Mr. Hayes. The band also did one hour educational symposiums at local schools and the Bay Medical Care Facility in Hampton Township and were featured on Bay3TV.

      Celtic rock band "Empty Flask" from Ontario, Canada, appeared at sold-out venues here earlier this year and a return engagement is already planned, said Mr. Hayes.

      "The band merged Celtic rock and Celtic ballads with the string instruments and bagpipes," says Mr. Hayes. "The band was so overwhelmingly successful at both venues that long lines of people attempting to gain entrance were seen. Young adults and oldsters alike rocked to the Celtic rhythms as the bagpipes bleated and the guitarists gyrated."

      "We have only just begun, but we think that we have already set the tone for a very energetic and vibrant organization that is dedicated to one common cause: the promotion and presentation of Celtic culture," Mr. Hayes concluded.

      For more information about the Friends of Celtic Culture please contact Mr. Hayes at 892-3986 or e-mail hutnut73@yahoo.com.###



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Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

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