ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Foot-high snowbanks lined both sides of the parade route, but the afternoon sun provided welcome warmth. As temperatures climbed into the 40s, marchers stepped off at King and Alfred Streets in Alexandria’s 34th annual Saint Patrick’s Day parade.
“It feels like a 70-degree summer day,” says Anthony Morretti, wearing a green derby and watching the parade with his mom and his friend. “This is an amazing celebration, a whole bunch of heritage out here, we’re having a great Irish weekend.”
Mayor William Eullie wore a green-plaid kilt as he rode atop an antique auto near the head of the parade.
“I love wearing kilts, but I only do it during the Scottish Walk and the St. Patrick’s Day parade,” Eullie says.
Military bands — including the Army Old Guard Fife and Drum, and the Navy Band — joined bag pipers and Irish step dancers, who made their way down King Street to Lee Street — just a block from the Potomac River.
“I’m having a lot of fun, it’s fun to dress up in green,” says 10-year old Lilly Powell, watching the parade with her family and friends.
Parade captain John Bryk, from Irish culture group the Ballyshaners, points out that Alexandria has Irish roots.
“Alexandria was founded by the Irish and the Scottish,” he says, “we’re celebrating the nation as a whole and we’re just getting people together to have fun.”
Laureen O’Neill-James, director of the O’Neill-James School of Irish Dancing, served as the parade’s grand marshal.
Festivities included an auto show and a dog show.
Many of the parade watchers wore green, especially caps and sweaters. Some went further. A teenage girl dyed her hair green and a small terrier pranced around with green fur.
