On Saturday, Mar. 14, I was lucky enough to go to this year’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in Jeffersonville, sponsored by the hamlet’s Ancient Order of Hibernians.

While attending, my luck continued as I was able to interview J.P. Graham and Jim Farrell. These two men have been doing this event for the entire 14 years its been held. Their favorite part of the parade is the unity, love and grace they feel from Irish people and from those participating in the parade.

Graham’s and Farrell’s favorite memories involve how the community has grown and how, each year, they’ve been able to increase the size of the parade. The number of spectators has grown, and they believe they’ve had a high of as many as 4,000 people, perhaps the best attendance for a St. Patrick’s Day parade in rural New York.

I was also lucky to interview waitress Michelle at Jeff’s Diner on Main Street. She was expecting an amazing turnout for the parade with a menu of St. Patrick’s Day-themed dishes.

“We typically get around 100 people a day, but today we’re hoping for around 120,” she said. She recalled seeing all the Sullivan West teachers and students taking part in the parade in years past, and has attended it for over a decade.

In the procession were quite a number of local fire departments, including firefighters from Kauneonga Lake, Roscoe, Beaverkill Valley, White Lake, Livingston Manor, Smallwood and Youngsville – a department known to host the best pancake breakfasts (definitely not biased). This year’s parade was also the first to have horses, and the reviewing stand patter by Farrell and Graham was definitely a highlight. They were joined with this year’s grand marshal, Duke Devlin.

The 14th annual Jeffersonville St. Patrick’s Day Parade was an amazing spectacle, from its bagpipe bands playing “Amazing Grace” to its fire engines and horses, to the floats and Jim Klein’s excavator. All in all, it was a grand celebration of the wearin’ o’ the green.