Dear Valued Customers,

This Thursday, March 17th is St. Patrick's Day and in my opinion it's a great time to be in Old Forge. Although the holiday lands on Thursday the Annual St. Paddy's Day parade takes place the next day on Friday, March 18th. I will be watching the parade from the comforts of the Old Forge Hardware windows since a black bear tends to spook the Irish Setters that participate in the parade. I don't mind though since The Old Forge Hardware has a fantastic view of the festivities!

If you have never been to the St. Paddy's day parade here I highly recommend checking it out. The Old Forge, NY website has a description of the parade which I have included below:

"5pm down Main Street in Old Forge.  This is a "don't miss" event!  This is the best (and only) Irish Parade in the Adirondacks. Creativity is always the main theme of this parade. Along with the usual participants, many groups are secretly making costumes and floats that will be a surprise for this year’s parade. Individuals now try to outdo their prior year’s costumes or floats. Parade favorites return year after year.  Local pickups with snowplows will entertain while in formation, under the name Synchronized Snowplows. The Old Forge Redheads group will be there, as will the Old Forge Irish Setters Club (which still has many dogs, but no Irish Setters). The Precision Shopping Carts will again be weaving their formations up Main Street, in spite of the poor physical conditioning of the pushers!"

In addition to the parade the weekend in Old Forge will be full of green themed festivities, a ski race and even a pond skimming at McCauly Mountain. This really is a weekend NOT to miss!

When gearing up for the weekend festivities I thought I should learn some more about the holiday we will be celebrating. Since brown bear have been extinct from Ireland for some time, I have no relatives in Ireland and I know very little about the history of St. Patrick's Day. Here are a few facts from the Yahoo! online article St. Patrick's Day History, Legends, and Social Significance: 

-Conceived in 5th century Ireland, the March 17 holiday initially was a reverent Roman Catholic observance humbly paying homage to St Patrick the patron saint of Ireland.

-After Irish immigrants found their way to America, the Colonies celebrated St Patrick's Day for the first time in Boston, in 1737.

-The first St. Patrick's Day parade was born in Manhattan, on March 17, 1762, when Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City streets accompanied by the bold familiar command of highland bagpipes, ancient instruments capable of emitting a haunting shrill wail exploited by early Celtic soldiers to intimidate the enemy.

Click the brown links above for more from the websites featured in this blog. I hope you enjoyed reading about St. Patrick's day, both in this community and in others. All of us at The Old Forge Hardware wish you a fun, festive and safe St. Patrick's Day celebration!

Until next time... remember to paws and enjoy the greenery:)

O' Henry McBear (my Irish alter-ego)