It's not quite spring, but there was no shortage of green Saturday as hundreds lined New Falls Road in Falls and Bristol townships for the 24th Annual Bucks County St. Patrick's Day Parade.
With Pennsylvania Lt. Governor and Bishop Egan (now Conwell-Egan) High School graduate Jim Cawley leading the way as Grand Marshal, about 2,000 marchers representing dozens of area organizations made the roughly one-mile march from St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church in Falls to Conwell-Egan in Bristol Township.
Participants included Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, bagpipe and string bands, Irish dance school students, police, firefighters, Ancient Order of Hibernians organizations, officials from both townships, state Senator Tommy Tomlinson, R-6, and many others.
As the bands struck up Irish-themed music, marchers waved to the crowd and tossed out green beads and candy to onlookers.
Decked out in a green hat and coat on New Falls near Oxford Valley Road, Falls resident Jim Culpepper just soaked it all in.
"I enjoy this parade every year," he said. "I'm proud of my Irish heritage and like to support the parade. This year, I have a daughter, granddaughter and nephew marching. I think the parade gives people a real sense of community and the turnout gets bigger and bigger every year."
Culpepper said the parents of his mother Marjorie, whose maiden name was Boyle, came to the United States from County Donegal in Ireland.
"My mom passed away before she got to see one of these parades," said Culpepper. "She would have loved it."
Clad in a bright green shirt and enjoying the parade from a folding chair with her three children, mother and other family members, Falls resident Jennifer Weis said the parade has a big spot on her calendar every year.
"We wouldn't miss it," she said. "We look forward to it so much. I love all of it ? the music, the color and especially the candy. It's a great event."
This year's parade theme, "Remember Our History, Protect Our Future," was chosen by the parade committee to promote awareness within the local Irish-American community of Tay-Sachs disease, a deadly genetic disease of the nervous system.
According to information provided by parade organizers, Irish-Americans have a 1 in 50 chance of being a recessive carrier of the disease, as compared to 1 in 300 for the general population.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46693221/ns/local_news-delaware_valley_pa_nj/
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