Paraders weren’t the only ones wearing costumes in Holyoke on Sunday. Almost everyone was.
View full sizeHOLYOKE - A friendly leprechaun adorns Cooper Skibel, 5, of Holyoke, with the face-painted luck of the Irish at the Holyoke St. Patrick's Parade (Photo by Brian Canova) HOLYOKE - Paraders weren’t the only ones wearing costumes in Holyoke on Sunday. Almost everyone was.
In a sea of green, complete with Leprechaun hats, Celtics jerseys en masse, and even the emblems of Notre Dame’s own Fighting Irish, spectators went to differing lengths to distinguish themselves along the crowded sidewalk.
Cheyenne Smith, and her brother Chance, at the parade for the second year in a row, started preparing their costumes as early as Valentine’s Day with gifts colored-green from their mother, and continued to add to that wardrobe Sunday morning in Holyoke. Cheyenne’s mother bought her a green feather from one of the street-vendors.
“We can’t keep all of this stuff though,” mother Courtney Voiland of Gilbertville warned the children once they’d settled on their outfits, “We’ve already got way too many toys at home.”
But the children in Holyoke were hardly the only ones donning flashy costumes. In fact the adults were the most spirited of the bunch.
“This is my one day, this and New Years’,” Jeffrey Reed, 36 of Holyoke, said from behind a bushy, bright green afro-style wig. 
Reed’s afro wasn’t the only in the crowd either. Keith White, Jeff O'Connor, and Pedro Coutinho, all originally of Holyoke, wore them too. They didn’t wear shirts, but they did wear kilts.
Asked why, a simple, “It’s St. Patrick’s Day!” exclaimed in unison by the Holyoke natives and their families on the sidewalk behind them, proved all the explanation needed for the day’s occasion.
Elsewhere, other costumes were more engaging still.
A face-painting artist, who would only identify himself with first name “The,” and last name “Leprechaun” as he painted a cloverleaf on the cheek of Cooper Skibel, 5, of Holyoke, claimed an age of around 350 years, but refused to disclose any further personal information for fear of tipping thieves off to the prized location of his mythical pot o’ gold.