I have to confess, I stumbled upon the St. Patrick’s Day Parade by accident. Some friends were visiting me from out of town and I wanted to show them around Mass St. Of course, that had to start with a brunch. The masses of people sitting along the street gave us a hint that something was going on.
Now, I have always been a sucker for parades. Floats, marching bands, funny costumes, love them all, but there were a few things in particular that stuck out to me during this Lawrence St. Patties Day tradition.
#1 The fans are hard core.
Just to put this in perspective. I arrived on Mass before eleven o’clock and the parade was scheduled to begin at one. There were already so many people sitting along the street that police had to direct the traffic. These people were there over two hours early.
I’m a parade-lover, but I could find a few other things to fill two hours rather than sitting in a lawn chair watching traffic. However, I wouldn’t dare tell these people that. As soon as I caught myself gawking at their dedication, entire families began showing up. The way they were unpacking the trunks of their cars, one would’ve thought they were expecting the apocalypse. These people had chairs, mini grills, hotdogs, hamburgers, games, etc. Honestly, it looked like something I could get into, and I took a few notes for the next parade.
#2 Everybody knew everybody.
The population of Lawrence is 96, 900 people, but the way these people interacted made it feel as if I was a foreigner that just stepped into the tiniest town in America. Trust me, I thought that all these people must be neighbors. The parade lasted two hours and every single float, car, banner, that walked by had people screaming from all sides. People were calling out names, waving hi how are you, I even saw a full-on conversation about a school carpool happen while one of the speakers was riding on a float. My friends kept saying how much the atmosphere reminded them of Fond du Lac (the town in Wisconsin we’re all from) and that town has a population of 43,000. That’s not even half of the people we have in Lawrence. Being there to experience it all really touched my heart because I always knew that Lawrence felt homey to me for some reason and watching the people blow kisses and scream at their neighbors made me see why.
#3 The commitment.
Every parade I’ve gone to has had those kids and adults that you can just tell were forced to be there. They hide when they pass their friends, they try to tone down their costume, and they wear a very uncomfortable facial expression for the entire walk. These people make everyone uncomfortable. However, the commitment to excellence this St. Patties was off the charts. Not only were the people walking having the time of their lives, but the floats were awesome. There was one that had a real motorcycle entirely painted gold so that it could be placed at the end of the rainbow. If you see that every day and aren’t impressed, I’m sorry; also, I think we should get to know each other.
#4 The themes.
There were so many groups represented in this parade. It ranged from men in kilts to kids in hot dog costumes. I was so disappointed in myself because I didn’t know half of what Lawrence has to offer. There were numerous restaurants, car dealerships, civil rights groups, and historical commemorations that I didn’t know existed. Everyone seemed to want to get involved in this parade and I’ve concluded that these people don’t do anything half-way. It made me want to get out and explore more of Lawrence than I had already seen. There is so much more to offer than what I’ve seen on Mass St.
#5 One word: Dogs.
I cannot tell you how happy seeing a dog makes me. I honest to goodness believe that we do not deserve to have such sweet, beautiful best friends. Somehow, we have been blessed. One can only imagine how excited I was when everywhere I looked, I saw a dog. Big, little, shaved, fluffy, you name it and they were there to pet. Just so everyone reading this knows that I’m not biased I will say something I didn’t like about the parade: dogs walked in it. The reason I didn’t like this is because I couldn’t pet them. There is nothing that can brighten your day more than seeing two dogs meet each other for the first time. I lied, one thing that is better is when I meet a new dog for the first time. In conclusion, this was the best time of my life.
In all seriousness, I encourage everyone to go out and try to experience a little bit more of Lawrence. There really is so much more to see. Lawrence is a city of hidden gems and it only took me a two-hour parade and a mass of dogs to figure this out.