Weather doesn’t hamper enthusiasm for Irish Parade

LIMA — Sure and begorrah, ‘twas a chilly day for a parade on Saturday, but shamrocks and green frocks still dominated the streetscape and bars in downtown Lima for the annual Irish Parade.

In Northland Plaza an hour prior to the parade’s noon start, snow squalls at times reduced visibility to next to nothing. Five minutes later the sun was shining brightly. Welcome to March in Ohio.

Amid the snow squalls, students and staff members from Perry Local Schools put the finishing touches on the school’s first-ever Irish parade float. Asked what could possibly entice anyone to come out in such horrible weather, cheer coach Sophie Trent had a quick response.

“Tradition,” she said, “no matter what the weather.”

Donovan Burell stood out vividly in the snowy staging area in his bright green leprechaun outfit. He was there to support his friend, Steve Collins, who would a short time later usher a Shelter Insurance float down the parade route.

“I’ve walked in the last six parades,” Burell said.

At The Met in downtown Lima, owner Rob Nelson greeted customers with a kilt and a smile. A half hour before the parade was scheduled to begin, the bar/restaurant was bustling. Just how much busier it would become remained uncertain.

“If the weather was nicer people would be lined up two or three deep on the sidewalks,” Nelson said, looking out the windows of his business onto a mostly empty Main Street. Nelson, however, was certain that business at the restaurant would persist throughout the day and into the evening.

“People want to celebrate,” he said.

A parade in her honor?

Seated just inside the front door of The Met was a woman who knows a thing or two about the Lima Irish Parade. Kathy McNamara-Eley proudly noted she has been “a part of the parade since day one,” when she she served on a committee that produced the city’s first such event on May 13, 1993.

Saturday was doubly special for McNamara-Eley: it was her 73rd birthday. She has been a regular at the Met on parade day for each of the 10 years the downtown establishment has been in business.

“And every now and then they throw a parade for me,” she joked.

The Lima native sported a green vest covered with buttons from each of the previous parades. The vest itself? Well, Kathy said she picked it up several years ago “for about $2 in a second-hand store in Berea, Kentucky, because it was just the right shade of green.”

Asked if she considered passing on this year’s parade due to the frigid weather, McNamara-Eley just laughed.

“This is nothing,” she said. “We’ve had some really horrible weather for the parade over the years.”

This year marked the first time St. Patrick’s Day revelers in downtown Lima could wander the streets — within established perimeters — with a beer, green or otherwise, in their hands.

The city’s DORA, or downtown outdoor recreation area, has been established since the last parade in 2019. Nelson said the weather pretty much made the DORA a moot point for this year’s Irish parade.

Donovan Burell, dressed as a leprechaun, prepared to walk in his sixth Irish Parade on Saturday.

Kathy McNamara-Eley was on a committee that helped plan the first-ever Lima Irish Parade on March 13, 1993. She celebrated her 73rd birthday on Saturday at The Met in downtown Lima, where she has spent parade day for each of the past 10 years.

Students and staff from Perry Local Schools braved some uncomfortable weather to put the finishing touches on a “Lucky Commodores” float that participated in Saturday’s annual Lima Irish Parade.

The freezing temperatures and intermittent snow didn’t stop people from coming out to enjoy the annual Lima Irish Parade on Saturday on Main St. in Lima.

Lots of candy was thrown to spectators of the Lima Irish Parade on Saturday.