LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Lawn chairs, green clothes, and music took over Main Street in Downtown Lima for the 29th Annual Irish Day Parade to show their pride for the rich Irish Heritage of the city.
If you ask a kid, parades are all about free candy. But if you ask those who work hard to organize the Lima Irish Day Parade and decorate their floats, they'll all tell you the same thing.
"It's all about family, it's all about Irish tradition. We saw the first parade and we were hooked. My dad, at that time, he really wanted to participate every year after that," said Cathy King of the Finn-Ruen family who took part in the parade.
The Finn-Ruen family is just one of many that gathers every year to march and drive down Main Street decked in green, to show their Irish pride. The North side of Lima had a large Irish population in the 50s and 60s, and for the families who participate, the parade is like a family reunion.
With warmer weather than last year, plenty of families, companies, and organizations joined in on the fun.
"This year we had 72 signed up, but I believe that a bunch of people jumped in because of the weather, so I would say we probably had about 100 units," said Darby Bourk, co-chair of the Irish Day Parade Committee, which begins planning the event in February.
And while the kids do go home with bags full of candy, seeing the end result of all of the effort put into decorating floats and putting together bright green outfits is what eventually turns into a fond childhood memory.
"Kids are the best. They love it you know, their eyes are bright, they like all the costumes and the floats, and the candy. Yeah, the kids make it," said George Casey, who was selected as this year's Grand Marshal of the parade.
Casey says that the months of planning and preparation that the Irish Parade Committee puts in every year is what makes the parade so great, and he already can't wait for next year's parade.
