Lucy Gellman Photo
St. Patrick’s Parade on Whitney.
The 25-degree temperature and chilly wind didn’t stop Myran Darden from grabbing his drum kit and Nation Drill Squad and Drum Corps sweatshirt, and heading downtown Sunday.
With the squad, Darden joined over 1,000 marchers Sunday afternoon in the annual Greater New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the state of Connecticut. Marking the parade’s 175th anniversary, Sunday’s chilly festivities drew lower numbers than usual amid the cold.
Darden, who has been playing drums for 12 years, said he loves any occasion to perform with the squad. Braving the cold in only his hoodie and a pair of jeans, he struck a steady earworm of a beat, keeping those around him moving.
Attendee Mary Murphy, there with her kids Manya, Blair and Sloane and mom Marilyn, said she could nearly feel that enthusiasm radiating from the parade in toasty waves. It helped her stay warm as the family snuggled under their down coats and a throw blanket.
“Amazing Andy”, a stilt-walking magician, took that approach, too. Stopped behind a marching band at Chapel and Dwight Streets downtown, he stilted over to Megan, Kaylin and Kylee Cahill, at the parade with their dad Ryan. He had a bone to pick with them: They’d brought three blankets to fight the cold, and one of them was emblazoned with the Boston Red Sox logo.
“You’ll have to get rid of that,” he said, before heeding a call to get back in line and heading towards the parade’s terminus at Grove Street.
Waving goodbye to Amazing Andy, the Cahills turned around in time for another group taking the cold in stride: a loaded Elm City Party Bike, taking its maiden voyage with architect and New Haven history buff Colin Caplan at the wheel. Those who ride the party bike must help pedal it to keep it going, hence the bike part of the equation.
As its drivers pedaled on, puffs of frosty breath billowing from their mouths, they got a cheering chorus of encouragement from not just the Cahills, but also Tariya, Ky’Asia and Daniel and their moms Savanna and Theresa (who declined to give their last names) on one side of Chapel Street …
… and three brave members of the New Haven Pizza Party Patriots on the other, who said they embraced the luck of the Irish despite their conspicuously Italian flag. As the three huddled together and cheered, member Chris Szczerba said they were keeping warm with their sweatshirt-jacket combinations … and Italian flags, each printed with the word PIZZA in bold block letters.
Members of the New Haven County Firefighters Pipes & Drums showed up in thick wool kilts and knee socks, wailing away on the bagpipes as they marched. No pants? No problem!
Dancers from the Lenahan School of Irish Dance traded their traditional dance garb — tight, ruffly dresses and laced-up shoes — for black pants, black sneakers and thick white wool sweaters, appearing as though they had just returned from Ireland’s Aran Islands ready to dance their way through the freezing streets.
“We’ll stay warm dancing!” said instructor and owner Meghan Lenahan as the students (including Erin Duffy, Emily Grady, Clare Shanahan, Bridget Keary in the top row in photo) warmed up around Sherman Avenue.
Elizabeth Boccardi, a baton twirler from Bristol, delighted the crowd, spinning her baton, tossing it high into the air, and grabbing it with a single, outreached bare hand as it fell.
Lauren Beth Stein (“Lady Blaze”) of LBSpinnerZ ArtZ, added a fire-studded hoop to her dancing routine as she sashayed and skipped down Church Street, spinning wildly in front of City Hall before a hard gust of wind blew three of her torches out.
As she fire-walked to the parade’s end, others rolled. A small team from Roller Magic in Waterbury including Ruthven and Mark Wantroba skated — literally — through their finish, and then kept going. After making it from Chapel and Sherman to Church and Grove skating in circles, creating a few dance moves, and shivering under four layers, said member Bianca Ruthven, it was what they could do to keep warm.
Brave sufferers of frostbite and chilblains, I salute you. I sat through the whole parade at Shell and Bones with plenty of other good New Havenites. I'm a drinker and eater not a freezer.