Why does Huntsville have a St. Patrick's Day Parade? (Auburn: spring break, homes)

[AuburnAL]

Why? Why not a Guy Fawkes Parade or a Bastille Day Parade? Why not a Cinco de Mayo Parade? Or why not some German parade? That at least would have some synergy with the city's history and marketing.

[zenjenn]

I am acquainted with someone who helps organize it. I believe it comes down to people are willing to organize and run this parade & participate on a volunteer basis. If some residents want to step up and volunteer to organize & run a German parade, I don't think the city would treat them differently. I could be wrong but my impression is that this parade is not something that was chosen by the City Council, but rather Irish cultural groups in Huntsville that approached the city and got permission to do it.

[Mawoods]

Hey, the majority of Southerners have Irish/Scots roots and on St. Patricks Day , WE ARE ALL IRISH!!!!! Why not have a little fun?

[AuburnAL]

Why not have a Southern parade then?

[E Limestone Dude]

Who knows. I can't figure out how they have a parade during the week while people are at work.

[zenjenn]

Why not have a Southern parade then?

Form a committee, show up at a city council meeting with your proposal, budget, etc, and start one. Nothing is stopping you.

Sorry, as someone who volunteers a LOT, it is a pet peeve of mine when people say "Why don't THEY do this?" or "THEY should do that." Stuff only happens when people commit to leading and volunteering and MAKING it happen. If you want something to happen, work towards making it happen, but don't question/complain/etc about the hard work, time, and money others put into things if you aren't rolling up your sleeves too. It doesn't take away anything from you or anyone else for these folks to have a St. Pat's parade. It happens because a group of people decided they wanted to make it happen. If someone else wants some other kind of parade or event to happen, they will have to do the work/get the sponsors/ etc to make THAT happen.

Who knows. I can't figure out how they have a parade during the week while people are at work.

First of all - it is at lunch so many people can go have fun on their lunch hour. Second of all, lots of folks are available. Stay-at-home moms with preschoolers, homeschoolers (quite a big group in this area), maybe some private schools (Catholic maybe?) bring kids. And people who are passionate about Irish heritage maybe even took some vacation hours to work and participate in this event. Heck, some people even had Spring Break this week!

[AuburnAL]

Originally Posted by zenjenn

Form a committee, show up at a city council meeting with your proposal, budget, etc, and start one. Nothing is stopping you.

Sorry, as someone who volunteers a LOT, it is a pet peeve of mine when people say "Why don't THEY do this?" or "THEY should do that."

Boo hoo. If it bothers you so much don't volunteer to begin with.

Stuff only happens when people commit to leading and volunteering and MAKING it happen. If you want something to happen, work towards making it happen, but don't question/complain/etc about the hard work, time, and money others put into things if you aren't rolling up your sleeves too.

I don't really care one way or the other. The poster's justification for the parade was that most Southerners have Scots-Irish ancestry in which case it seems to me that people should be celebrating their immediate ancestry and not some preceding one.

It doesn't take away anything from you or anyone else for these folks to have a St. Pat's parade.

Given that these parades make it impossible to get into or out of downtown for several hours I beg to differ. At least have one out in Research Park, on University, or on the Parkway and let everyone enjoy the fun while giving downtown folks a break.

First of all - it is at lunch so many people can go have fun on their lunch hour.

Yeah if they don't want to eat lunch they can do that, and if they do want to eat lunch hope they knew about the parade because otherwise they're going to be out of luck. Especially when the parade falls on a government holiday, and all the restaurants on the square are closed.

And people who are passionate about Irish heritage maybe even took some vacation hours to work and participate in this event. Heck, some people even had Spring Break this week!

Which gets back to my original question. There only seems to be a small cadre of folks around town who are passionate about their Irish heritage (if it is indeed organized by private individuals).

[Herr_Brush]

Friend, your complaints seem misplaced at best. A parade is the traditional means of celebrating Irish culture/heritage. For German heritage/culture the traditional means of celebration is Oktoberfest.

Most importantly: (1) Huntsville already has an Oktoberfest, and (2) it is held outside of downtown. Voila! Both of your complaints are answered in advance.

Regarding a Southern heritage/culture parade, those generally involve waving the Confederate Battle Flag to and fro, and I'm guessing the Huntsville powers that be are too interested in attracting outside business to be enthusiastic about that.

Cinco de Mayo celebration is largely at odds with your desire for Southern Heritage celebration, surely. Perhaps Mexican Independence Day would be more appropriate in the South.

[Southlander]

Because there was/is an Irish pub (Finnegan's), and all the drunks...er, patrons, decided to do it. At first, I think they just paraded around the parking lot. It grew from there.
German parade? Inefficient use of energy.
Guy Fawkes parade? Who?
Bastille Day parade? Too close to 4th of July?

Originally Posted by AuburnAL

There only seems to be a small cadre of folks around town who are passionate about their Irish heritage (if it is indeed organized by private individuals).

OTOH, there is a HUGE cadre of folks around town who are passionate about beer drinking.

(Are some people just being grumpy?? )

[HsvCity!]

Moderator cut: snip

AuburnAL, do you really feel this way: "Given that these parades make it impossible to get into or out of downtown for several hours I beg to differ. At least have one out in Research Park, on University, or on the Parkway and let everyone enjoy the fun while giving downtown folks a break."? Why did you choose to pick this argument if as you stated "I don't really care one way or the other. The poster's justification for the parade was that most Southerners have Scots-Irish ancestry in which case it seems to me that people should be celebrating their immediate ancestry and not some preceding one." I guess this was just a rant from you because the parade made you miss your lunch? "Boo hoo." I have noticed a few snotty and snide posts from you. Is everything okay with you?