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Date: 2/23/2022
WEST SPRINGFIELD — With less than a month to go until the 69th annual Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade, West Springfield colleens and honorees are preparing for their long-awaited debut.
Karen Demers, president of the West Springfield Parade Committee, said typically they host a colleen contest to name the colleen and her court members. They didn’t need one this year, however, as the 2020 honorees have been waiting patiently as two consecutive parades were canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the winter 2019-20, Kathleen Beliveau was named the town’s colleen. The four members of her court were Kaitlin Bailey, Erin Melvin, Meghan Pinter and Julia Maiolo. However, only days before the parade, COVID-19 swept the nation, sending everyone into a lockdown and canceling the annual spectacle.
“They never got their time and spotlight to walk in the parade,” said Demers.
“We thought we would have it last year,” she continued. As the pandemic continued to surge, the 2021 parade was also canceled, but the honorees were still able to keep their titles. “They are the longest-running colleens,” said Demers. “They’re the 2020-2022 colleens.”
At the time of their initial crowning, all of the girls were in high school. Now, they are all in college. Demers said this has made it “harder to get together” and host events, as they are away from home.
Typically, the colleens are high schoolers, although the annual competition does accept collegians as applicants, up to age 22.
Demers informed Reminder Publishing that the colleens will be riding on their own float, called “It Takes a Village.” The float was originally built for the 2020 parade.
“It was about 90 percent done, then it was canceled, so we shrink-wrapped it and prayed that when we unwrapped it, it would last.”
Once the West Springfield St. Patrick’s Day Committee got the green light for the 2022 parade in the beginning of February, they unwrapped the float about a week later.
“There is minor stuff to fix up and finish,” but otherwise it was well-preserved, said Demers.
“It Takes a Village” was built by committee volunteers on the grounds of the Eastern States Exposition. To preserve as much of an advantage as possible in the fight for the “best float” prize, Demers said the design won’t be revealed to the public until the parade itself.
Aside from the colleens, there will be several other West Springfield award winners marching in the parade. All of them were also named during the 2020 “Irish season.”
The town parade marshal is West Springfield Fire Chief William Flaherty. Other winners include Kelley and Katzer Real Estate with the Old Mittineague Award; CARE Coalition of West Springfield with the Ray DiStefano Citizenship Award; and Christopher Thompson, who assisted in the construction of the colleen float, with the “Jinx” Powers Award.
Also representing West Side by marching in the parade is Mayor William Reichelt, elected town officials, the Fire and Police departments, members of the Irish Cultural Center and their rugby team, among others.
“We’re very happy that we’re finally going forward with the parade and resuming activities,” as the pandemic seems that it’s being “pushed aside,” said Demers.
The parade will step off on March 20 at about 11:10 a.m., a little earlier than usual, from the former Kmart Plaza on Northampton Street, and follow the traditional route to downtown Holyoke. Television coverage begins at noon on WWLP-TV, Channel 22, as well as wwlp.com, from a new filming location on Beech Street. The parade’s website, www.holyokestpatricksparade.com, has further details about the time change and parade route.
At press time, the city of Holyoke has a mask mandate in place, which will apply to both participants and spectators, unless the city changes its regulations.
Prior to the parade, the West Springfield St. Patrick’s Day Committee will host a recognition dinner to honor the 2020 colleen, court and award winners.
The dinner is on March 5 in the Carriage House at Storrowton, on the grounds of the Eastern States Exposition, 1305 Memorial Ave., West Springfield. Demers said the event will begin with a social hour at 5 p.m., followed by dinner at 6 p.m. Dinner choices include Yankee pot roast, chicken francaise and baked New England scrod. Reservations are required and must be made by Feb. 25, as there are limited tickets available. Tickets are a donation cost of $30. To register, send a text message to 222-3280.