Holyoke Colleens visit school ahead of parade
HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) – As the celebration of Irish culture continues, the Colleens visited the Blessed Sacrament School in Holyoke Thursday afternoon.
Each girl was able to talk to the students and get them excited for the festivities this weekend, this year's Grand Colleen, Moira Reardon, was able to pass the crown down to a future colleen.
She told 22News that the future Colleen is chosen by a submission of essays. Then the Colleens choose which one stood out the most. We spoke with Moira about her time as a grand colleen so far this parade season, 'Being able to represent my family, my community of Holyoke, and my Irish heritage. It's so special,' she says. 'The girls are all great and there just making this the best experience I could ask for.'
Moira was also a student at Blessed Sacrament School and competed to be a future Colleen almost 10 years ago. She says that this moment was a very full circle moment for her. The Saint Patrick's Parade kicks off at 11:10 Sunday morning and we will have full coverage on 22News starting at noon.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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