I have great respect and admiration for the staff of the Kansas City St. Patrick's Day Parade. You can't possibly take in all that they have to accomplish in a year's time. To look at the task of re-creating a wonderful, traditional event with such enthusiasm and creativity every year has to leave them breathless. Yet they do it. Flawlessly, I think. And can you imagine what it takes to coordinate with representatives of the City in every respect and discipline, all Irish groups, all vendors, the police, legal agencies, merchants along the route, the Media, oh God, it's really too much to even think about.
I know a very little bit, I've served in a tiny way as a Hibernian rep to the parade committee. They were so very kind, super fun, and considerate. I liked every member of the committee that I came into contact with. I wished I could have been more helpful. But trust me, they have it all under control.
I took what I learned by observation to my little Lee's Summit Emerald Isle Parade. We do pale in comparison in terms of the sheer number of folks that have to be coordinated with. The size of our parade is tiny in relationship to the "Big Parade." But we do match them in spirit. We run our parade with a small team of 10, all responsible of crosschecking eachother to ensure that all of our work tasks are handled, and creative urges are looked at and either allowed or tabled till next year. We're a small but enthusiastic bunch.
This year the parade will step off at 1:00 as last year, on Saturday, March 14. Hopefully, we will not have the bone-chilling freeze that we shared with the Big Parade last year. It was so cold then that our talent, The Lucky Charms, and Flanigan's Right Hook, could only play for a few minutes of their sets. We really missed out last year. But never say die, we'll have some talent this year too.
Just watch out for us. March 14. The Lees Summit Emerald Isle Parade will step off in style.
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