NEWS INFORMATION FROM |
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THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED |
FOR IMMEDIATE USE |
ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE KICKS-OFF AT 2PM ON SAT. MARCH 19 IN DOWNTOWN HARRISBURG; 3,000 MARCHERS EXPECTED“Mayor Stephen R. Reed and Dauphin County Commissioners Jeff Haste, Nick Difrancesco and George Hartwick today announced that the 2005 Harrisburg St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be held on Saturday, March 19, beginning at 2 p.m. Nearly 3,000 marchers in more than 100 parade units will participate in the free event, and all are invited. Reed said the parade theme for this year is “Celebrating Irish Heritage and Traditions Pennsylvania Style”. Highlighting the more than 100 parade units will be several nationally known bagpipe bands, including a popular Mummers parade group from Philadelphia. More than a dozen high school bands and drum and bugle corps will appear, as will numerous floats, marching groups, antique vehicles and fire apparatus. The Mayor said the Parade route is different than that of the Harrisburg Holiday Parade which is held each November to kick off the Holiday Season. Marchers will line up in several different divisions behind the Capitol Complex. The parade will begin on Walnut Street, heading west towards Second Street, turn right onto N. Second Street to North Street, and then west on North Street back onto the Capitol Complex where it will disband. The Review Stand for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be at N. 2nd and Locust Streets, rather than on Market Square. Reed said free parking will be offered at the Harrisburg Parking Authority’s Market Square Garage at N. Second and Chestnut Streets, and on all non-parade route streets. Other city garages will be open but will be charging their normal event parking fees. Motorists are cautioned against parking on N. 2nd Street or other parade route streets as vehicles left there Saturday morning will be ticketed and towed. Parade Chairman Jim Williams noted that the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, begun anew several years ago, has steadily grown in size and attendance since. Parade entrants compete in several categories and winners will be presented with their trophies at a special reception slated for sometime in April. Williams lauded the contributions of the many sponsors for this year’s fete, with prime sponsors Dauphin County and M & T Bank providing the bulk of funding for the event. Additional sponsors include the Downtown Improvement District, Harrisburg Regional Chamber, ABC TV27, T. Brendan O’Reilly’s Irish Pub, Brinjac Engineering, the Harrisburg Parking Authority, ParkMor, McGrath’s Pub, Citizens Bank, Malady & Wooten Associates, Molly Brannigan’s Irish Pub and Restaurant, Coakley’s Irish Pub, Comcast Cable, Community Banks, Commerce Bank and the Bradley Academy for the Visual Arts. |
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