By Susan Monteleone
YULAN — All the Irish eyes were smiling – even those that weren’t Irish at all – at the 32nd Annual Yulan Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in Yulan Sunday.
Once again, the giant green shamrock was in the middle of the four corners in Yulan, as well as the sign honoring parade founder Marion O’Neill, who passed away a few years back. The sign sat atop a street post declaring the main street of Yulan “Marion O’Neill Way.”
But all eyes were on the parade, which featured a vast array of floats, marchers, tractors, fire departments from as far away as Massapequa, and even a new group now known as the Mountainview Red Hats, proudly strutting their stuff through town.
The Grand Marshalls for this year’s parade were Maureen Donnelly and Rick Morgan, as well as Miss Ireland Kaley Donnelly, making a special appearance.
Also performing were the ever-popular Highland Steppers, who proudly danced the Irish jig as well as other Irish dances.
A very popular float in this year’s parade was created by A & J Maintenance of Eldred, featuring local youth as the dwarfs from “Snow White.” Even the witch was on board to make sure the children were well behaved.
Also making a guest appearance was Young Miss Sullivan County Christiana Poli, who sat in style in a Porsche.
Karen Brauser and her family of Beach Lake, Pa. found their yearly spot along the parade route, noting, “My husband Mike has been coming here for a very long time, and when I married him, I started coming, and now we have children, and we all come to the parade. We have been doing it for about 23 years, and it gets bigger and bigger. This parade is a rite of passage into spring for our family, and we love it.”
Klendin Kirby, who rode on the Highland Democratic float, added, “This year’s parade is the biggest parade yet, I feel. There were many participants and many people along the route. It was so good to see everyone out on the most famous day for everyone to be Irish.”
The Yulan Saint Patrick’s Day Parade is made possible by the Yulan Saint Patrick’s Day Parade Committee through numerous fundraisers and donations received throughout the year.