The Irish in Northfield

The 5th annual Northfield St. Patrick’s Day Parade, known as the Patty Dazzle, was held downtown this evening. After living here for several years, I was glad to finally attend this fun event. All the right things were present, a bagpiper, a dancing St. Patrick, the flag of Ireland, and several family banners and crests.

I had a chance to talk with several people who were either marching in the parade or who came to watch. There seems to be a universal theme of fun surrounding St. Patrick’s Day events, and knowledge of the actual history and tradition of the holiday isn’t critical to taking part in the celebration. Even if you don’t know what “Erin go Bragh” means, you can still participate.

Mike McGovern was the Grand Marshall this year and the parade event itself was organized by a group of folks who included Kevin O’Donnell, Jim Bohnhoff, who took the role of St. Patrick, and Northfield City Council Member Jim Pokorney.

I did have the chance to take some pictures and will post them later. For now, you should check out Northfield.org‘s photo album posted by blogger extraordinaire Griff Wigley.

Update: The photos turned out pretty cruddy, so I won’t post them here. Sorry for the tease. Guess I need to move into the late 20th century and get a digital camera…