24-03-2025
Dye the dog green: the Mystic Irish Parade returns
Mystic — This year's Irish Parade drew between 25,000 and 30,000 spectators to the village Sunday, wearing green top hats, shamrock earrings and the almost ubiquitous green beaded necklaces.
Bagpipes blared. At least one dog, a Boston terrier, was dyed green. Babies in green knit caps were cradled in carriers so parents could eat pizza and hot dogs.
Mystic Irish Parade Foundation Vice President Neil Ryan said more than 80 groups and about 2,000 marchers, bagpipers, floats, civic organizations, first responders, joined the tens of thousands of paradegoers. More than 300 volunteers worked to make the parade's 17th year another successful one. He pegged this year's crowd at 25,000 to 30,000.
One Mystic resident, Julie Eliason, lives right on the parade route, her home a former liquor store. She and her 10-year-old Yorkshire terrier Milly sat outside her home.
I moved here about 10 years ago, and that first year I had no idea there was any kind of parade," Eliason said.
"Every year it builds a little more, it builds a little more, it's just fun," she said. "The town instantly coming together, that's the most fun."
She also wore Irish-themed accessories, a white, shamrock-patterned scarf, yet another green headband topped by shamrocks on springs. The best part of Mystic's parade, she said, is that it happens after St. Patrick's Day — so all the green gear is steeply discounted. The cheaper prices let her stock up and pass out festive goodies.
Leicester, Mass. resident Danielle Babbitt and her 2-year-old son Sebastian Babbitt were first-timers, making the 80-mile drive pretty much on impulse.
"I have no clue what the heck this is all about," Danielle Babbitt said.
It was the first parade Babbitt expects her son will remember, she said as Sebastian turned a pinecone into a magic wand.
Lisa Konicki was also a first-timer, but as a marcher in the parade queue. She is president of the Westerly, R.I.-based Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce, which is celebrating its 100th year.
"We felt because it's our hundredth, we'd do this and the Columbus Day parade to say thanks for the support," Konicki said. The chamber's float had a large Irish-themed nutcracker and an anchor, the chamber's insignia, that was taller than a pick-up truck.
Maggie Henderson, who directs the parades volunteers, said planning the day had gone smoothly.
"We're a well-oiled machine at this point," Henderson said.
Henderson has been volunteering for 15 years. It's the joy that keeps bringing her back.
"It's usually a very fun day, sometimes a little crazy," Henderson said. Every year, her favorite moment is seeing the floats begin their procession.
Middletown Pipes and Drums marched in the parade for the 12th time this year, and band member Lori Connor said the village's parade is the best of all the parades they do, Hartford, Meriden, Essex, to name a few.
"It's the most Irish," Connor said. "This is the one that feels perfect.
Connor said being around all that Irish-ness was good prep for the band's upcoming trip to a world bagpipe competition in Ireland, where she said she and the band will do their best to represent America in what Connor called a meaningful cultural exchange.
