St. Patty's Day parade (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre: real estate, college, mall)

[FightinPhils]

It will sound strange coming from me, but since my son wanted to go, I decided to brave the Scranton St. Patrick's Day parade. We wound up on Lackawanna Ave near the mall, and I have to say it wasn't bad at all. Mostly families with kids around there....no trouble at all. I suppose it would have been different if we were near Tink's and Farley's. But near the mall...not bad at all. Some annoying teenagers walking back that were hanging around near the mall entrance, but nothing horrible. Hopefully maybe the bars opening just a little bit later cut down on the drunks at parade time.

I didn't get to see Hillary, we left a little before the end of the parade....got a little cold and figured we'd beat the rush out of there.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by MrKrabs

It will sound strange coming from me, but since my son wanted to go, I decided to brave the Scranton St. Patrick's Day parade. We wound up on Lackawanna Ave near the mall, and I have to say it wasn't bad at all. Mostly families with kids around there....no trouble at all. I suppose it would have been different if we were near Tink's and Farley's. But near the mall...not bad at all. Some annoying teenagers walking back that were hanging around near the mall entrance, but nothing horrible. Hopefully maybe the bars opening just a little bit later cut down on the drunks at parade time.

I didn't get to see Hillary, we left a little before the end of the parade....got a little cold and figured we'd beat the rush out of there.

Well I'm glad to hear that you had a wonderful time after all. My friend Meg and I were likewise perched in front of the Steamtown Mall across from the Southern Union Building, and we had the best time we've ever had. Being devious Meg decided that she wanted us to pose as die-hard Obama supporters just to tick off the Clinton supporters, so we each donned Obama stickers and waved Obama signs and staked out a spot in the middle of a Clinton group along Lackawanna Avenue. To our delight we got a lot of "ribbing," but nobody was hostile about our political dissent. On the contrary we chatted for well over an hour with another man from Forty Fort who works at the Glenmaura Country Club, as well as a family with two young children next to us. I snapped dozens upon dozens of photos which I'll be posting in a tour later this evening. Meg and I even headed into Martini to sample their Long Island Iced Teas (which were very strong and VERY expensive by the way at $7 a pop), and the crowd was very well-behaved.

I'm sure Dan will come onto this thread within a few hours to post all of the "interesting" happenings he heard on his police scanner while he was volunteering at his church, but as long as you avoid the small parcels of real estate directly adjacent to the problem bars, this is generally a family-friendly event. Hell, we were probably just feet apart near the mall and didn't even realize it.

We didn't see Hillary either because as the VIP's approached all of the Hillary supporters stormed right in front of us, blocking our view, even though we had our spot staked out nearly an hour ahead of the parade. I did manage to get nice shots of Ed Rendell and Dan's hero, Chris Doherty, though.

P.S. Do you know anything about a gang shooting that's supposed to happen soon at the mall? Several of my friends have received e-mails about this.

[NYRangers 2008]

I must say I also went after I railed against it. My girlfriend really wanted to go so I said, OK let's do this. It wasn't that bad like MrKrabs said. A little cold though. The main problem we had with the parade was the drinking and it seemed to be curbed this year a lot more than usual. I saw a few young girls making drunken fools of themselves but nothing too harmful. It's a parade that takes place in the late morning and early afternoon, so there should be no drinking during parade time at all in my opinion. It's a family outing and should be treated as such. Save the boozing for the night after the parade which I think most people did this year.

[NYRangers 2008]

Originally Posted by SWB

Well I'm glad to hear that you had a wonderful time after all. My friend Meg and I were likewise perched in front of the Steamtown Mall across from the Southern Union Building, and we had the best time we've ever had. Being devious Meg decided that she wanted us to pose as die-hard Obama supporters just to tick off the Clinton supporters, so we each donned Obama stickers and waved Obama signs and staked out a spot in the middle of a Clinton group along Lackawanna Avenue. To our delight we got a lot of "ribbing," but nobody was hostile about our political dissent. On the contrary we chatted for well over an hour with another man from Forty Fort who works at the Glenmaura Country Club, as well as a family with two young children next to us. I snapped dozens upon dozens of photos which I'll be posting in a tour later this evening. Meg and I even headed into Martini to sample their Long Island Iced Teas (which were very strong and VERY expensive by the way at $7 a pop), and the crowd was very well-behaved.

I'm sure Dan will come onto this thread within a few hours to post all of the "interesting" happenings he heard on his police scanner while he was volunteering at his church, but as long as you avoid the small parcels of real estate directly adjacent to the problem bars, this is generally a family-friendly event. Hell, we were probably just feet apart near the mall and didn't even realize it.

We didn't see Hillary either because as the VIP's approached all of the Hillary supporters stormed right in front of us, blocking our view, even though we had our spot staked out nearly an hour ahead of the parade. I did manage to get nice shots of Ed Rendell and Dan's hero, Chris Doherty, though.

P.S. Do you know anything about a gang shooting that's supposed to happen soon at the mall? Several of my friends have received e-mails about this.

Paul, I posted an e-mail I received earlier in the week about something happening at the mall. It was deleted because the info was unfounded. But, I did talk to a lot of people I know and they said the mall was under heavy security all week and this weekend. I heard it was a gang shooting and I also heard it something terroristic. But nothing has happened so far thank God and hopefully nothing will and that these are all rumors.

[johnqpublic]

The Mall shooting thing was nothing more than a internet hoax, it should have been on Snopes..

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by NYRangers 2008

Paul, I posted an e-mail I received earlier in the week about something happening at the mall. It was deleted because the info was unfounded. But, I did talk to a lot of people I know and they said the mall was under heavy security all week and this weekend. I heard it was a gang shooting and I also heard it something terroristic. But nothing has happened so far thank God and hopefully nothing will and that these are all rumors.

Originally Posted by johnqpublic

The Mall shooting thing was nothing more than a internet hoax, it should have been on Snopes..

Thanks for assuaging my concerns. I highly doubt that a MALL of all places would be selected for a gang shootout anyways. Why go somewhere where you're surrounded by mall security, potentially armed off-duty police officers, good samaritan civilians, etc. when you could just go to some empty field somewhere?

[casper]

I have to add my two sence. For the better part of the past four or five years, St. pattys in scranton has gained nationwide attention. Rated as the now 2nd best parade in the nation (Scranton's Saint Patrick Parade Website) surpassing New york, Scranton Residents have been blasted continuously but parade goers as being "drunks" and "Bums". It is known that Scranton is Irish america. Nearly 30 % of Scranton is Irish, which is the leader among Ancestry. Tell Me? Did you expect all the college kids to sip tea and play scrabble on this day?. If you did, You don't get the picture of what scranton is becoming. Scranton is becoming a party town and a college town. I go out and have a few at certain places..does this make me a drunk?. I see people come out stumbling from bars and clubs does that make them drunks? No. A drunk is someone that CONTINUOUSLY has the trend to drink day after day after day. We are talking about ONE day. And yet, We have all these bars like the amber pub that continuously gets shut down by the lcb for fights and health violations...oh...but thats ok. I understand that people going to the parade are out to have a great time. But, We as the irish people deserve this day to ourselves. For one day, one day all we want is to be left alone and party. Is it really that hard to understand what our ancenstry is about? No one criticizes all the mexicans for cinco de mayo. Why not?. Are they really that special?.
We really need to lighten up and start realizing the glory our parade has become. There has been only one BIG fight YEARS ago and still the irish people are blamed for it. amazing.
Ain't no party like a scranton party...cause a scranton party don't stop.

[okaydorothy]

I am irish (accent and all) and while I love the parade in NYC, its a bit boring after the 10th marching parade. But the place is usually kept clean after it.

But the dirtiest parade was the puerto rican parade in NYC. The place was filthy after it.

Any other irish parades coming up??

d

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

Any other irish parades coming up??

Bear in mind that this was a thread from last March that was resurrected by casper. The Scranton St. Patrick's Day Parade isn't until next Saturday, March 14, 2009. I'll likely be working, but here's some photos from the wonderful time a friend and I had last year! I agree with casper: "Ain't no party like a Scranton party, 'cuz a Scranton party don't stop!"

//www.city-data.com/forum/north...ricks-day.html

Wilkes-Barre also hosts an annual parade that is much smaller and much more family-oriented.

[BXWB]

Anybody who thinks the Scranton parade is better than the NYC parade is delusional. Or you have just have never actually been to both.