Are you feeling festive and in the mood to celebrate St. Patrick's Day early this year? The Valley Community Association is hosting its 17th annual "Old Neighborhood" Parade on Saturday, March 13, at noon at the Valley Community Center, the second largest St. Patrick's Day Parade in Western New York.
Typical sights include floats, marching bands, Irish dancers, family clans, fire and police departments, clowns, classic cars, and more. A traditional Irish "Hooley", a festival of food, drink, and dancing, will immediately follow the parade and runs from 1pm-6pm at the community center. "Poor Ould Goat" will play live music and the O'Sullivan Irish Dancers will perform a routine.
Peg May Szczygiel, a South Buffalo native of Irish descent and longtime volunteer of the Buffalo community, will serve as the Grand Marshal of the parade this year. In honor of the first neighborhood St. Patrick's Day parade held in 1913, Szczygiel will lead the procession through the original route cutting through the Valley and Old First Ward neighborhoods.
The modern incarnation of the Valley St. Patrick Day parade is the brainchild of Peg Overdorf, the executive director of the Valley Community Association, who founded it in 1994. For her, restoring the parade was a way to get in touch with her own family background and the traditionally Irish roots of the neighborhood.
"I grew up in a household where my parents put a lot of emphasis on our Irish heritage. It was always a huge part of our lives," Overdorf reflected. "St. Patrick's Day was special... it brought everyone in the family, and everyone in the neighborhood, together. That's what I wanted to recreate with the parade."
This year's parade is being held in honor of four Buffalo community members who passed away recently and were instrumental in helping in past years: Mike "Ozzie" Overdorf, who helped found the modern incarnation of the parade; Tom "Shaky" Masterson, a Buffalo police officer who had appeared prominently in the parade each year; Joan LaRusch, a devoted community and parade supporter; and Pat Henault, a supporter of the Valley Community Association.
For both the families of these community members and anyone in Buffalo who would like to celebrate Irish heritage or St. Patrick's Day, the parade is not just a yearly event, but something that is deeply personal and very much a part of South Buffalo's tradition, a smaller celebration that promotes community.
"The downtown parade is just like any other parade, but with an Irish theme. Our parade is more personal," Overdorf said. "People can identify and connect more. They can imagine what it was like at the turn of the century - their ancestors marching down the same streets, celebrating in the same way."
Onlookers who would like to view the parade will be best able to do so on South Park Avenue between Hamburg Street and Smith Street, Smith Street between South Park Avenue and Elk Street, Elk Street between Smith Street and South Park Avenue, Hamburg Street between South Park Avenue and O'Connell Avenue, and O'Connell Avenue (between Hamburg Street and Louisiana Street.
If you would like any more information on the St. Patrick Day parade or any related events, contact Lori Overdorf at 716-823-707, ext. 4, or via email, or visit the Valley Community Association's website.
