Downtown Turns Green

Reisa Mellow was recovering from surgery and feeling depressed when Steve Sipperly invited her out on their third date. He took her to New Haven’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade to cheer her up. It worked.

That was four years ago. They had such a good time, they got married — and were back among throngs lining downtown streets Sunday for their fourth return engagement.

The Moosup couple (pictured) left their small farm early Sunday morning to join a throng that parade organizers had estimated might go as high as 300,000 due to the lucky Irish sunny weather and 60-degree temperature.

Police spokesman David Hartman said the department has no official crowd estimate. It was as large as he’s seen, he said, though he doubted it met the 300,000 prediction.

Among the thousands who lined the Chapel Street parade route from Derby to Church were not only proud generations of Nutmeg Irish Americans but real Irish Irish folks such Sophia and Michael Vigue (pictured), who now live in Harwinton but hail from Derry City, Ireland.

It was their 19-month-old daughter Keira’s first parade. She offered a one word review: ​“Mmmmmm.” Her aunt Lorraine Schenck, also from Derry, translated: ​“She wants to get out of her stroller and sing and dance like the Irish.”

There were plenty of high spirits along a parade route that featured folks in green hats, beards, bow ties, sunglasses, and jester caps; green angel wings and green fishnet stockings; green cotton candy for sale and even green footballs flying through the air.

One hundred extra New Haven cops deployed to maintain order including enforcing rules against public drinking were also very much in evidence — so that open beer bottles and cans were not.

On Thursday the police convened a news conference to emphasize that rules against public drinking, including a fine of $99, would be strictly enforced again this year as they were in 2011. Click here for that story.

That didn’t keep these two young men from being cuffed by the police at about 1:40 p.m. shortly before the parade arrived at College and Chapel.

According to Sgt. Anthony Zona, the kid in blue was caught urinating out of a window, and the one in the green outfit ​“was swinging his backpack around and giving us a hard time.”

The two were released with a misdemeanor summons for disorderly conduct.

Hartman said the police made ​“dozens” of such arrests Sunday, the norm for a parade, with no major incidents.

One man poured his bottle of Smithwick’s Irish ale into this Dunkin’ Donuts coffee mug and kindly handed the bottle to Rodger Torpey (spirited), a formerly homeless man.

Torpey, who now lives at Fellowship Place, was having a field day collecting dozens upon dozens of beer cans and bottles from the trash cans on the east side of the Green facing the reviewing stand.

The Smithwick’s drinker said he heartily supports the city’s crackdown on public drinking. He did not want to identify himself except to say that he has been coming to the parade for 30 years, and his daughter, for all her 17. ​“It’s not a drunk-fest. It’s a gathering,” he said.

Echoing a theme repeated by other spectators, his daughter added, ​“It’s a good thing not to drink in public. It [public drinking] sends a bad message to kids.”

Her dad sipped not-so-secretively away at his DD cup and said that overall, ​“The parade becomes more and more family friendly with restrictions on public consumption.” He said the police likely know there’s beer inside, but as long as you are not rowdy and are sipping responsibly, people are not asked to stop, he avreered.

“You can’t stop drinking. Today everyone’s Irish,” said Torpey.

Drinking real DD coffee while their little ones munched on blueberry muffins, Juliana Vasquez and Oscar Lopez of the Hill pronounced the parade ​“awesome.” It was their first St. Patrick’s Day parade, as it was for their kids Maryjasmine and Miguel. They stood out as one of the few family groupings who sported not a touch of green.

“We forgot. Next year,” said Lopez.

The kids were riveted by the vrooooomm of motorcycles that led the way, followed by the thrilling notes of pipers of the Fire Department Bagpipe Band, and then the boom of the Stony Creek Drum Corps, which was led by Davy Crockett or Daniel Boone. He was whoever you wanted him to be, said Joe Martin, pictured in the buckskins.

At around 3:30 p.m., as the units turned north onto Church in the final leg of the parade, a glittering Irishman, aka Sterling Adams from Woodbridge, made a special obeisance to the large shamrock chalked at the intersection.

“That was the beginning of an Irish break dance that ended in a good decision: not to do it,” he later explained.

Still watching him and the promenading of the final units from behind the police barriers were Steve Sipperly and Reisa Mellow. They had hired someone to take care of their two goats, 18 chickens, six ducks, and two dogs, and were intending to make a full day of it.

“We’ll be coming back for years to come,” she said.

As always, politicians made sure not to miss the chance to march for the crowd. This year’s contingent included (pictured) one Connecticut U.S. senator, Richard Blumenthal, and a man who hopes to join him in Washington next year, Democratic Senate candidate Chris Murphy.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman and Gov. Dannel Malloy made it too.