I have some more information about the 53^rd Annual Yulan St. Patrick’s Day Parade. As the Parade date neared, we’d ask friends, “you marching?” to find out what was going on - none of us ever marched! Once, RFK himself (yes that RFK) prank-called me at 2am with that question; I hung up on him! The Boston St Patrick’s Day Parade (started on March 17, 1737) and is still sponsored by the South Boston Allied War Veterans, has been going on for over two hundred and eighty-nine years. It also celebrates what is known as Evacuation Day (March 17^th) when George Washington and his Continental Army drove the British Troops out of Boston during the Revolutionary War. 

The list of marchers in the Yulan Parade keeps growing. Most are local fire departments, businesses, not for profit organizations, elected officials and many big surprises thrown in for good measure. The Yulan St. Patrick’s Day Parade sponsored by the Town of Highland’s Marion O’Neill Culture Club will take place on Sunday, March 15^th starting at 1pm. The weather looks good with forty degrees and lots of sun so Irish eyes will be smiling.

One of the features added to this year’s Parade is the Park Bar in Yulan will be hosting the official family Pre-Parade breakfast featuring delicious traditional Irish breakfast foods and a lot of drink specials. It will be Eat-In or Grab and Go and there will be a big menu. I spoke with Ellie Desimone from the Park Bar who laughed and told me that she hasn’t been part of the Parade since about 2007, but they are ready for the breakfast with the addition of signature green bagels and green beer pitcher specials to boot. 

According to Chef Mike Farrington, starting on Parade Day at 10am, The Park Bar will have an Irish Breakfast Buffet featuring corned beef hash, eggs muffins, toast, sausages, bacon, oatmeal, fruit, coffee, and tea. There will be a special kid’s menu available with chicken nuggets and fries which always hit the spot with the littles. During the Buffet the bar will feature specialty drinks including Irish coffee, pitchers of beer, $5.00 Jamison shots and something called an Irish Car Bomb (aka the Irish Slammer or the Dublin Drop) made by dropping a shot glass filled with Irish whisky and Irish cream into a pint of Guinness stout, then drinking it quickly before the cream curdles!

The Bar will also be serving corned beef and cabbage dinners all weekend and host an afternoon party with live music by the Acoustic Bad Boys band. Cost of the Pre-Parade Breakfast buffet is $15.00 for adults and $10.00 for kids under twelve years old. The Park Bar, now operating under new management, offers both indoor and outdoor seating options. It is situated at 36 Beaver Brook Road in Yulan, directly opposite the ball field. For more information visit their Facebook page.