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Sure, you could go to Christiansted and watch the St. Patrick’s Day parade, but if that’s all you did you’d be missing half the fun.
The annual parade, which marked its 41st stroll through the streets of Christiansted Saturday, is one of those events where it’s at least as much fun watching the crowd as it is the parade itself. Thousands of people in varying shades of green and varying degrees of good spirits line the sidewalks, throbbing to the beat and adding their own energy to the excitement passing by.
And the narrow streets and party atmosphere make an ideal setting for mingling participants and spectators, so that at the edges of the parade it’s not always easy to tell who’s marching and who’s just gotten caught up in the flow.
For instance, Clint Perry, part of the Rain Riders and Patriot Riders motorcycle group, paused with his buddies on King Street as the parade slowed to a halt. He was talking about the group, which provides motorcycle escorts for returning National Guard troops, and was asked for the name of the young lady who had been draped decorously on the back of his bike, an arm draped around him.
“I have absolutely no idea,” he said with a smile.
“It’s fun, it’s great,” said Debbie Harvey. “Everybody’s having such a good time. It’s as much fun to watch the people watching the parade as it is the actual parade itself.”
Sam Powell was watching the St. Croix parade for the first time, but he’s no stranger to St. Patrick’s Day parades. A native of Boston who niow lives on St. Thomas, he’s attended the festivities in that city’s Southie neighborhood, with a significant Irish-American tradition. While there might not have been quite the atmosphere of the Auld Sod as in Boston, he felt right at home on King Street.
“It’s great,” he said.
He wasn’t the only Bostonian in the crowd, either. Casandra Delp and Kathryn Ligato were also visiting the island and availing themselves of the chance to celebrate St. Patrick, Crucian style.
“This is the best parade of my life,” Delp bubbled.
At the other end of the spectrum, Cynthia Charles said she was marking her 40th viewing of the parade, and never gets tired of it.
“While I’m alive, I wouldn’t miss it,” she said.
The start of the parade had been announced for “11 sharp,” so naturally it got moving at about 11:30, maybe a hair later. Marching bands from Central High School and the St. Croix Educational Complex kept the parade stepping in time, and crowds of revelers on flatbeds and trailers tossing out candy to the kids, drinks to the adults or beads to anyone with a hand in the air made sure it didn’t go by in too big a blur. And there was plenty of dancing in the streets, both by parade groups like the dozen or so regulars from Charlie’s Brown Bag and from people on the sidewalk who couldn’t keep from joining in..
And lest the parade lose its small-town touch, there were of course the green dog on a leash, the kids on a donkey, and the one-man parade entrant -- the guy on the bike, who truth be told probably wasn’t an official entrant.
But why should that stop him from joining in on the fun?