This year's parade will not suffer the same soggy fate as last year's, with beautiful weather scheduled for this weekend. File photo.
The day may have been rainy and gray but Irish eyes were smiling and green was in the air as a spirited crowd turned out for the 11th annual Cutchogue St. Patrick’s Day Parade today.
The event, sponsored by the Cutchogue Fire Department and the North Fork Chamber of Commerce, featured fire trucks, pipe bands, floats, Scouts and other community groups.
Joe Corso, of the North Fork Chamber, said rain or shine, the parade was a go. The calendar is booked for all the upcoming weekends with St. Patrick’s Day parades, he said. If the parade had been rescheduled, the parade would have lost its pipe bands.
Also, he added, “If Westhampton can march, we can march,” he said, smiling.
“Real men wear skirts in parades in the rain,” Tom Scalia, president of the North Fork Chamber, joked.
Wearing festive green hats, Jennifer and Justin McGreevy came out for the parade under an umbrella with Melissa Veluna.
“It’s rain or shine,” McGreevy said.
“I’m Irish,” Veluna added, smiling.
Revelers celebrated under a tent at Touch of Venice; the restaurant’s owner, Ettore Pennachia, was the grand marshal of the parade.
Kids played with Irish-green clappers, an alternative to the candy that was thrown from floats in previous years, sparking some concerns for safety.
After the parade, the fun continued at the Cutchogue Firehouse, where kids and adults alike enjoyed hot dogs, candy and laughter.
SoutholdLOCAL photos by Peter Blasl and Lisa Finn.
