Schuylkill Plus Magazine

On Saturday March 23rd, the Jack Kehoe Division #1 of the Ancient Order of Hibernians will host the10th Annual Girardville St. Patrick’s Day Parade

This memorable event will begin at 12 NOON, and will be held RAIN OR SHINE. St. Patrick’s Day is commonly known as a day to celebrate the Irish heritage. This year’s parade hopes to involve the entire Girardville community, as well as our friends and neighbors from throughout Pennsylvania!
Our Committee is proud to announce that this year, we are honoring “The Churches of Girardville”, which have always been a very cherished part of the Irish Heritage.
We also are proud to announce that the Grand Marshal for this year’s parade will be Mr. Tim Holden. Tim is a fellow Hibernian and has supported our parade from the very start. He had served as the Schuylkill County Sheriff and then as a Congressman for a total of nearly thirty years of dedicated service. He had helped to make our parade a success in many ways including being very instrumental in bringing former President Bill Clinton to our parade a few years ago. We proudly salute Tim as this years Grand Marshal!
The events of the weekend will “kick-off” with the

10TH Annual St. Patrick’s Day
DECORATING CONTEST
To be held during the early evening hours of
FRIDAY MARCH 22nd

All residents of the Borough of Girardville, as well as the immediate adjacent communities of Homesville, Powdermill, Connerton, Wildcat, Preston Hill, and Rappahannock, are invited to take part by decorating their homes or businesses in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day. Out-of-Town judges will judge all homes/businesses, and the following CASH PRIZES will be awarded to the winners:
1st Place $ 100 2nd Place $50
3rd and 4th Place $ 25 each

The Jack Kehoe Division #1 of the AOH is sponsoring the DECORATING CONTEST. Show your Irish spirit and celebrate the 10TH Annual Parade!

Parade day kicks off with the Irish themed Mass, which will be celebrated in St. Joseph’s Church at 10:00am.

In this, our 10TH Annual Parade, 35 AWARDS will be presented in various categories. The following is the list of awards:

Uniformed Marching Units 1st, 2nd
Themed Marching Units 1st, 2nd
IRISH DANCE GROUPS 1st, 2nd
High School Bands 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Non-High School Bands 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Pipe & Drum Bands 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th
AOH Marching Units 1st, 2nd, 3rd
LAOH Marching Units 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Floats 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Best Appearing Fire Company 1st, 2nd, 3rd
Special Judges Awards 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th
Farthest Distance Traveled 1st
Best Overall Entry 1st

AWARDS will be presented to the winners shortly after the conclusion of the parade. AWARDS CEREMONY will be held outside of Jack Kehoe’s Original Hibernian House, located at the corner of Beech and Line Streets in the Borough. Winners of the Decorating Contest will also be announced during the ceremony.

The OFFICIAL COMMEMORATIVE PROGRAM of the 10th Annual Girardville St. Patrick’s Day Parade will soon be available. This program includes the tenth in a SERIES of articles on the History of Girardville, Pa. These stories of Girardville’s history will be continued every year in the Parade Program, and contains interesting facts about Girardville and the surrounding area. This year, the program features “The Churches of Girardville”, which is a very special part of both Irish and Girardville History. This year’s Commemorative Program is a very special edition.

PROGRAMS will be available at various local businesses in the Girardville area, as well as the Hibernian House at Beech and Line Streets in the Borough. Copies of the Program, along with official Parade T-Shirts, will also be available along the Parade route, from members of the AOH Jack Kehoe Division, who will be throughout town on the day of the parade. Copies of this Commemorative Program and the Official Parade T-Shirts are only ($10.00) ten dollars each! Get your copy and your shirt today!
On Parade day, members of the Jack Kehoe Division will be at all entrances of the Borough, taking donations towards the 10th Annual Parade. Anyone wishing to contribute towards the parade can contact CHAIRMAN McNelis or any other member of the parade committee. Everyone’s support is appreciated by the Jack Kehoe Division, in order to keep this tradition alive and well.
Non-profit groups such as schools, churches, fire companies and other community groups will provide various food items, baked goods, and Irish
novelties/souvenirs for sale, all along the Parade Route and throughout the Borough of Girardville. Girard Hose Company will be serving food, beer and non-alcoholic beverages beginning at 8:00am. They will also provide live entertainment in their fire hall. Please support your friends and neighbors of the Girardville community.

Irish ENTERTAINMENT will be plentiful on Parade day! Establishments throughout the Borough will offer various forms of Irish music to be enjoyed by all! From acoustic performers to DJ’s there is something for everyone! The famous “Irish Lads” will be performing at the 2nd Street Pub after the parade. The Hibernian House, the Top Cat Café, Girard Hose Company, The Nowhere Bar, Marrone’s Restaurant and others, will provide Irish music throughout the day…and all within walking distance of each other! Bagpipe Bands will also perform throughout the borough after the parade. It is sure to be a GRAND time!

The Parade Committee has again this year named Yuengling as the Official Beverage of this year’s parade.

The Parade Route is as follows: Starting at 4th and Main Streets, traveling West on Main to Julia Street, North on Julia to Ogden Street, East on Ogden to 2nd Street, South on 2nd to “A” Street, East on “A” Street to 4th Street, North on 4th to “B” Street, where the parade will disperse.

The Parade Committee always allows political candidates to walk or ride in the parade. However, the Parade Committee would like to remind all Political Candidates, Political Parties and Supporters that they are welcome to take part themselves, but they are NOT allowed to have political signs in the parade. They CAN NOT hand out, from the parade itself, any kind of political literature or novelties, with political candidates names or messages on them. Anyone that does not follow these rules will be prosecuted, with no exceptions!!!!!

The Parade Committee cordially extends an invitation to any and all Community Groups, Civic or Fraternal Organizations, HIGH SCHOOL BANDS, Sports legends and Teams, Mining Companies, Unions, Historical/Cultural Associations, Veterans/Military Units, Senior Citizen’s or Youth Groups, Specialty Performers, Dance Groups, Family Groups, and Fire Companies/EMS, to participate in this year’s parade. Show pride in your group or organization while joining in the celebrations of the Irish heritage and the community of Girardville. Businesses are also encouraged to participate! Your business can join in the fun by taking part in the parade, while advertising to the estimated 15 to 20 thousand spectators who regularly attend this parade. You may wish to form an employee “Marching unit”, or create an original float or vehicle, which exhibits your IRISH PRIDE! Your group MUST register in order to be placed in the line-up, and also to be eligible for awards. This event is a great opportunity to show your support to your patrons and fellow business owners, while sharing in the celebrations of the day!

One side note, this will be my final year as Chairman of the parade. I have chaired all (10) ten parades, but I have now decided to retire. Both my wife Nancy and I would like to thank everyone for your support over the past ten years. It has been a great experience, as we have met a lot of great people. We made many friends from both near and afar through this parade. Again, we thank you for your support and we ask that everybody continues to support the parade committee in future years!!! We ask that everyone stays and watches the parade to the very end, as we will actually be taking part and will be “bringing up the rear” .

****(3) Three very important notes:

First: Registration will be held in the Girardville Borough building again this year!! This is located at 4th & “B” streets and is very close to the start of the parade and directly across from the parade participants parking area.

Second: A reminder…as usual, state route 4030 (road through Gilberton & Mahanoy Plane) will be blocked off to ALL traffic as early as 8:30am. This is due to the parade lining up in that area and the fact that the parade committee can’t take chances on having any participants getting injured!!! Once the road is shut down, NOBODY will be allowed past Mahanoy Plane!!!!!!!!!!!!! Please plan on using routes 61 & 54 to get to Girardville.

Third: No alcoholic beverages will be allowed in the line of march. Violators will not be eligible for prizes and will be subject to arrest! THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS!

Any person, group or business interested in taking part in this parade can obtain a registration form by calling the Parade Information Number at (570) 773-6218, OR by emailing the Parade Chairman at mouche4541@verizon.net Deadline for all Parade registrations is March 17th. LATE registrations will be accepted up until 11am (at the Registration Area located at the Girardville Municipal Building) on the day of the parade. However, All LATE registrants will be placed at the REAR of the parade line-up. So register your group today! Join in the fun!

Additional Press Releases will be distributed which will include information regarding this parade, road closures, and other specifics concerning this parade. Additional Press Releases will be presented to the media in the coming weeks prior to the parade scheduled for March 23rd.

The Parade Committee hopes to make this event a celebration of the Irish heritage as well as a memorable and happy occasion for all residents of the Borough of Girardville and its surrounding communities.

Thank You
John P. “Mouche” McNelis
Parade Chairman
10th Annual Girardville St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2013