Nearing the End of the Parade Post

Bagpipes and Firemen!

The Irish Flag in the middle

The other Irish Flag in the middle

Another year of published St. Patrick's Parade pictures is nearing the end. It has been a labor of love because I do enjoy capturing a few precious moments of  a celebration. Since I don't shoot weddings, I make up for it with the Children's Christmas Parade and the St. Patrick's Parade. Then, it's time for the Dragon Boat and Kite Festival, Plano Balloon Festival, Memorial Day Program at a local cemetery, There are  always festivals that fill in the balance of the calendar year.

So, as the St. Patrick's Parade comes to a close for another year, it is a hope that every one has enjoyed the parade highlights.  

Make Ready for the Parade

Barricades for Greenville Avenue

It's gonna be a good parade this year!

The Touchstone for March 17th. This one is nearly as old as I am!

The flatbed trailers have started to be stationed so that the police line barricades can go up fast and come down fast for Saturday's parade. The weather is gonna be great, but for a photographer, maybe a bit on the warm side. The temp range started out at near 80 degrees but as the models are refined for Saturday, the hi for Saturday is not set for 83*. The kicker is a stiff wind. That means a baseball hat rather than the wide brim fedora (which I prefer). But the aerodynamics in a stiff wind gets that hat airborne quickly. Rather than chase it or loose it, it's just better to reach in the bag and pull out the baseball had. It's gonna be a water jug day, too.

It took a bit to find the lucky charm, but it has been around for a long time so it's retired and awakened every year like a ritual.

 

A Little Isle Across the Pond

 

The Dallas St.Patrick's Day Parade 2011


This parade is every bit as large as the Chicago,New York or Boston Parade. Who would have thunk !!
This year, the parade will officially be know as the Dallas St. Patrick's Parade but it all started where it continues today--on Greenville Avenue in the M Streets and Lower Greenville Section.

 

This year's parade is set to step off on Saturday, March 16,2013. It looks to be a good day weather wise, though weather can change. Since the parade has taken on the Dallas name....... and a new logo make-over ---there is a big push to take the focus toward a "family style" parade now.

 

That means the drinking and a bit of rowdiness is being tamed down or attempted to be tamed down. It often seems people try to tamper with things that are successful and  the power-mongers-to-be  suddenly want to try to standout with their attitude  --hey, look at me--and suck attention from the fun and the things that made the parade as big and as large and as successful as it has been for more than 30 years.

 

Yes, everyone understands the "family style" atmosphere, but in past years, that didn't stop the parents from bringing their kids to the parade, either. Lower Greenville is (besides being a residential area)  restaurants and bars and clubs.  It's a typical political issue  with the homeowners. They don't want the traffic, the parking issue, the noise, the trash, or an occasional urination on the back side of a building.  The Park Cities has that too.

 

It never fit my fancy for those that tried to hop on the band waggon when  everything was fine, but couldn't be found when the road got a bit rough. The fake smiles, the fake attitudes, the back stabbing, never makes a person, short-term or long-term, win anything.

 

 It would not like make me happy to see the parade move to another part of town or to see over thirty years of work go down the tubes because of a few belly achers either. That almost happened last year because the home owner associations pressure on city hall about the parking issue.

 

Across the pond, on that little isle they call Ireland, this kind of bickering would not be an issue. It would have been settled long before it got started and the party just keeps the tradition going and going and going.





The Stand Off!

Click on the picture and the page will open up with all the details.

This image is listed with my agent for posters, framing or canvas wrap. I just love the scene!  Two years ago, while walking the stage route for the Children's Hospital, Nieman-Marcus Christmas Parade in downtown Dallas, these two units of the parade were already in place and were waiting for the parade start. It was something that you couldn't stage, it was just happening and those are the best shots anyway.