March 12 – Some great news! Sponsored by the Marion O’Neill Culture Club the Official Town of Highland St. Patrick’s Day Parade is coming back to town. The Parade will take place in Yulan has returned after many years of being on hiatus and the excitement around town is at a fever pitch with everyone no matter where your people had their roots will be Irish for a day. The Parade will step-off on Airport Road at the four corners in Yulan at 1-5pm on Sunday, March 17th and will end at the Fireman’s Field Ball Park. There are a lot of family friendly events happening throughout the day with plenty of fun activities for the kiddos. The Main stage will be where it has always been traditionally and that is in front of the Crossroads Lounge across from the Yulan Post Office.

The Parade itself is a marvelous blend representing  the best of our community. There will be horseback riders, some of the farmers from the Barryville Farmers Market such as Beaver Brook Dam, Barryville Community Church Youth Group, Back to Bakers, Stickett Inn, Highland Lake Fire Department, Yulan Fire Department, Highland Ambulance Service, and Legislator Luis Alvarez will be driving a special Vehicle for the Sheriff’s Department and Boy Scout Troup 102- those very special young men who laid over four hundred fresh Christmas Tree Wreaths on our local veterans, graves as part of the Wreaths Across America program- we need to really cheer for them as they march by. There will be between 8-10 floats from local businesses and new exciting things are being added all the time. 

To kick things off in grand style The Crossroads will be offering a special St. Paddy’s Day brunch menu so everyone can be filled with great breakfast energy like your mama always told you to do. The Brunch starts at 11am and reservations sound like a very good idea! Also, in honor of the Parade, Crossroads will have an Irish menu which would make my Grandmother Helen- a proud resident of County Cork-very pleased indeed! The special Irish menu will feature corned beef and cabbage, bangers and mashed (sausages and mashed potatoes) fish and chips, Rueben sandwiches and several specialty cocktails and drinks. The Crossroads will also be serving their regular menu in addition to the brunch and Irish fare menu. What’s a parade without music-so in the parking lot of Crossroads along the parade route starting at 12:30-a Celtic music and rock band Black Radish will be performing starting at 12:30 as the line-up of marchers begins to assemble on Airport Road. At Crossroads starting at 3pm a second band Bad News Band featuring Dave Pietkiewicz will be performing until 6 pm in the Lounge, and they cleared out space for a dance floor. So, it looks like Crossroads Lounge is shaping up to be the Parade’s Party Central for great food menus, live music, and specialty drinks. Konrad’s Kitchen is closed on Sundays and I am sure that Alex, the very gifted chef at Back to Bakers, will have a delicious corned beef and cabbage dinner going on as well.

For the kiddos, the Collective next door to Crossroads Lounge on Beaver Brook Road will have the fabulous Ruth’s Face Painting on hand. In addition to her wonderful face painting designs, which both kids and adults love, she will have some temporary tattoos which is the hottest trend right now. The Collective will also have other activities for kids as well as having a pop up of their Afterhours Coffee Bar. It’s going to be a real lollapalooza of a time for the whole family as we all welcome the Official St. Patrick’s Day Parade back to town! 

Contributed Photo

Shane Pearson  the chair of the Marion O’Neill Culture Club (and the grandson of Ms. O’Neill) and Kenny Van Tuyl of Barryville discuss the return of the Official St.Patricks Day Parade in Yulan on March 17th starting at 1 p.m. With horses, farmers from the Farmers Market, Highland Lake FD, Yulan FD,  Legislator Luis Alvarez driving a special vehicle, 8 to 10 floats from local businesses and Boy Scout Troup 102 from Glen Spey. The Crossroads Lounge right on the parade route will feature a brunch starting at 11am and an authentic Irish menu and special drinks. There will be two live bands at the Lounge, the Celtic band Black Radish and The Bad News Band featuring Dave Pietkiewicz, will start at 3 p.m. There is face painting and temporary tattoos for the kiddos at the Collective as well as a pop up coffee bar. It’s a lollapalooza of a time for the whole family. For more updated information go to John Pizzolato, Town of Highland Supervisor, on Facebook.