Mike’s walk up the avenue

“I’m ready,” was how grand marshal Mike Gibbons described his feelings minutes before the off at 11 a.m.
Gibbons, resplendent in top hat and tails had arrived down the avenue from St. Patrick’s Cathedral with his dozen aides after Cardinal Edward Egan had celebrated his last St. Patrick’s morning Mass as archbishop of New York.
One of the first salutes Gibbons received as he prepared himself to lead the parade back up the avenue was a hearty “how are ya lad” from a member of the Fighting 69th veterans corps.
On St. Patrick’s Day, everyone is ageless as memories of St. Patrick’s days past merge with the new and latest celebration of the irish national saint and all things Irish.
The packed cathedral had included current members of the Fighting 69th in its congregation. The famed regiment had formed part of Task Force Phoenix in Afghanistan together with other units from New England states and just recently returned from this tour of duty.
As tradition demanded, however, the morning of March 17th required the presence of the regiment, or at least part of it, on home ground, or asphalt as it turned out.
This year’s parade was saluting not just soldiers but also nuns.
The parade was dedicated to the Sisters of Charity, founded by Elizabeth Ann Seton, and there was a healthy contingent of two to three hundred in the Sister of Charity marching contingent ready to roll on East 44th Street just minutes after the parade stepped off.
Marking the anniversary and ready to march with the sisters was Peggy Conroy, a teacher at Mount St. Vincent in the Bronx, Eileen Gallagher who proudly presented herself as being from the class of 1958 and both Tara Milligen and Beth Hegarty from the class of ’86.
The parade, as always, attracted politicians including New York governor David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg who clutched an Irish tricolor and wore a green tie and sweater that were at least close to being the same shade.
And there were protestors too. Irish gay activists staged what is now their hardy annual protest on 57th Street and Fifth against the exclusion of gay activist groups taking part in the parade.
By contrast, counties Longford and Roscommon, Kilkenny and Limerick were in the vanguard of the county association marching groups that make up the traditional backbone of the parade.
This year’s march also invited a few less traditional participants including the “Singing Priests” group from Ireland, the chart topping Irish band, “The Script” and the reigning Rose of Tralee.
Miss America was also listed for but had to withdraw at the last minute because of illness to a family member in Florida.
In addition to pipers and drummers and bands of brass and woodwind, there were also pipers and drummers, marchers and twirlers from as far away as Finland, France and Spain.
Despite harder economic times, there was evidence that many visitors from Ireland had made the journey across the Atlantic for the big Irish day.
And while some of the Irish arrivals joined the crowds along the avenue, others marched. They included a significant contingent from the Irish police, the Garda Siochana and Irish firefighters from the Dublin Fire brigade.
Parade crowds vary by weather and also the day of week, the biggest being likely to turn up on a sunny day at the end of the week.
Tuesday’s spectators came and went in healthy droves as the parade marched through its hours, that being close to six of them. Some, of course, stayed the course in one place, not a few having booked prime viewing spots several hours before the start.
The official first day of spring might be Friday, March 20th but it was hard not to believe that spring began the moment that Mike Gibbons, with a spring in his step, set off up Fifth Avenue and led his parade into a storied history.