There were four arrests at the parade. A shooting and a stabbing following the event were unrelated.
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HOLYOKE – Fans wearing green hats and shirts, shamrock beads and green-tinted sunglasses turned the city into a sea of green, Sunday, for the 61st St. Patrick’s Parade.
Unusually warm temperatures had marchers peeling off their Irish knit sweaters and delighting in the 70-degree day that made the 2012 version one of the biggest success in the long history of the parade.
“I don’t know what I did to make it happen. We have had nice days in the past, but nothing like this,” said Russell McNiff Jr., this year’s parade president.
Saying he feels blessed, McNiff talked about past parades where the Department of Public Works removed shoulder-high snowbanks from the route and people wrapped in blankets and shivered through the event.
He thanked the about 200 volunteers on the parade committee who have been working since last April to prepare for the event.
Barry Farrell Jr., this year’s parade marshal, has officially marched in two other parades and unofficially as a band monitor in dozens.
“It was fantastic. I’ve marched in the parade for many, many years and I’ve never seen so many people,” he said.
He said he was impressed with the State Police Marching unit, which won the citizenship award this year for all the work troopers do for the city.
No crowd estimates were available, but organizers and police agreed the good weather brought out one of biggest crowds in recent history. People lined the route from the start at K-Mart plaza on Route 5 to the end on Main Street.
Larry Stock, of Connecticut, who has been selling horns, shamrock hats and green feather boas at the parade for 40 years, said parade-goers quickly bought up his souvenirs Sunday as he walked down Appleton Street.
“It is always big and it always depends on the weather,” Stock said of the parade.
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Chicopee residents Pauline Belanger and Brenda Lauren sported bright green wigs in honor of the parade.
This was Lauren’s first time watching the parade up close. The duo found seats right in front of the Kmart Plaza where the parade began.
“We wanted to sit near the front where no one was blocking our view,” Belanger said.
Maeve and Madden O’Sullivan ages 7 and 4 and Molly Delaney, 7, of East Longmeadow, cheered as bands and floats passed by. Wearing green and white furry leg warmers the girls had front row seats on Northampton Street.
“I like seeing the cheerleaders,” Maeve O’Sullivan said.
“I like the whole parade,” Molly Delaney added.
Everyone had their own favorites, whether it was the bagpipe bands that lead the event; the mummers bands that marched in the middle; or the Mela Shriners clowns, motorcycles and stunt riders that finished the parade.
“The floats are a big attraction, but so are the bands and the local groups that march. It’s just a great experience all around,” said Raymond H. Feyre, a parade organizer.
While the award winners, Colleens and floats got cheers, there were a few small furry creatures who also got big support from the crowd. Perhaps the most popular was Nero, the 10-month-old German Shepherd who walked the route with his owner Sgt. Pete Signorelli.
“He’s the star of the show,” Signorelli said. They marched with the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department.
Kevin O’Hara, the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Award winner for 2012, said he was thrilled by the crowd and honored to win the most prestigious award given by the committee.
“I feel like I’ve been knighted. It’s a true honor,” said the Pittsfield resident.
The JFK Award is presented annually to Americans of Irish decent who have distinguished themselves in their chosen profession. O’Hara has written books, including “Lucky Irish Lad,” and “Last of the Donkey Pilgrims.” He just retired after more then 30 years as a psychiatric nurse at Berkshire Medical Center.
“An award like this makes me feel validated,” he said. “I’m happy that my story resonated with members of the committee and that they felt I represented the Irish American experience in a way they can relate to.”
This was the first parade for new Police Chief James Neiswanger. He said he was impressed there were few problems despite the large crowds.
In total, four people were arrested for disorderly conduct during the parade. There was a stabbing and a shooting reported two hours after the event finished, but neither were related to the parade, Sgt. Manuel Reyes said.
“Everybody has been very welcoming,” Neiswanger said. “The parade is huge and the crowds are fantastic.”
It was also the first time Alex B. Morse marched in the parade as mayor. He said enjoyed seeing so many people come to Holyoke.
Good weather or not, Laura Roe of Westfield said she never misses a parade and always dresses the part.
This year she wore an Irish knit sweater over a green shirt and green and white stripped leggings. Her green shamrock beads and a green cowboy hat light up and she also wore green glitter lipstick, green false eyelashes and a gold glittery wig.
“It is just so much fun,” she said.
Part of the tradition is those living on the parade route hold enormous parties. Some invited hundreds and cheered on marchers with bullhorns.
“It’s fun to watch the bands and the people gathering on the street,” said Gail McNee, who lives on the corner of West Glen and Northampton streets.
McNee gets up at 7:30 a.m. every year for the parade and decorates her porch with streamers and a sign that reads Shamrock Street. Friends and family help.
Annette Keogh O’Connor, 94, and three of her children, Mary Ellen, John and Kevin O’Connor gathered with friends and family members at the matriarch’s Beech Street home as they have since the 1970s when the parade route started going past the house.
A banner strung from the porch read “Holyoke High School Band,” denoting a tradition that started in 1978, when O’Connor’s husband, John J. “Jinx” O’Connor, a long time Holyoke High School coach, lead his basketball team to the state championship. The band stopped and played to the house and has been doing it ever since, Mary Ellen O’Connor said.
“They do it every year. We cry a little and we cheer a little,” she said of her father who died in 2005.
Despite the loss of her father and the fact that all of the siblings cannot made it every year the party continues for every parade.
“We had four generations of one family here today,” said Kevin O’Connor, of Holyoke.
Staff writer Elizabeth Roman contributed to this report.