Come on out and rep your Irish roots at the 46th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Ocean View, Norfolk! MARCH 16, 2013
The IAS will be located in Section One, Position 39. This will be in the general vicinity of Northside Middle School at the corner of Granby St. & Westmont Ave. Parade Marshalls in green jackets will be there to assist you if you have questions. It is nearly impossible to get near Northside Middle School by car after 9 am, so if you want to park near the school plan to get there early.
The Knights of Columbus will also be running a shuttle bus from 8 am – 10:00 am between Holy Trinity School (Government & First View) at the end of the parade route back to the parade start area, so you can park at the end of the parade if you wish. THERE IS NO SHUTTLE BACK AFTER THE PARADE, SO PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY.
Thanks to our Float Committee Chair Jack Kennedy and his hardworking & talented crew, we have a new & improved IRISH COTTAGE float, plus the return of our popular PADDY WAGON, which has been refurbished. Our floats should arrive in the line up between 8:30 and 8:45 am Saturday morning. PLEASE JOIN US THEN WITH WHATEVER YOU’VE GOT TO HELP DECORATE THEM: Irish banners, bunting, flags, streamers, shamrocks, leprechauns, beads, etc. Parade step off is 10 am sharp.
Current 2013 IAS members with mobility issues and/or small children, grandchildren, nieces, or nephews are welcome to ride on the IAS floats. We request that people capable of walking the entire parade route do so in order to save room on the floats for people who can’t walk themselves or who have little kids who can’t walk that far. MAKE SURE YOUR 2013 IAS DUES ARE PAID SO YOU CAN RIDE – we’ll even take them the morning of! There ARE benefits to IAS membership, doncha know?! 🙂
Along with our floats, we will have our 2013 IAS PRINCESSES, riding on a green Mustang convertible.
We will also have our IAS PADDY PACK of Irish-owned and Irish breed dogs marching with us. Members are encouraged to join the Paddy Pack with their dogs as long as the dogs are people-friendly and dog-friendly, are up-to-date on their vaccinations, and are on a non-retractable leash. We need 2 volunteers to carry our gorgeous new IAS Paddy Pack banner, designed by Jason Wilson!
IRISH STEP DANCERS from An Cor Rud/The Reel Thing AND the Cumascaigh School of Irish Dance will “step lively” along the parade route, doing a little special something in front of the reviewing stand!
• For the second year running, we are delighted to be joined by a contingent of our friends from the HAMPTON ROADS HURLING CLUB! Hurling is one of Ireland’s national sports and has its roots in ancient times. We’re excited to have the lads along on the one road sharing the one load with us!
