Saturday is St Patrick's Day and the Silverwoods are all about the three girls who are in the parade as part of their 'baton twirling' club entry. Even little R(4) is in their with a huge over-sized skirt hoisted up round her chest and fixed with safety pins and 'braces', and her tee-shirt pinned up with a 9 inch hem. they don't make the uniforms small enough, and R isn't even the smallest! She and the tiny tots will be marching at the front of the group just behind the club banner with Mums in close attendance. The oldest, Em-J, will be marching along with the teenage group twirling proper batons, and daughter No.2's group of pre-teens doing ribbon-dances in the rear guard.
It's Dad first one experienced first hand. The parade is the thing, and the whole town turns out. Every child in town belongs to some club or other so they are all in it, if not as baton twirlers, then as members of clubs doing kick-boxing, young farmers, play groups, schools, amateur dramatics etc. There are floats representing the Irish answer to Womens' Institute, "ICA" (Irish Countrywomens' Association), Farriers/Blacksmiths, Sports and athletics teams (especially Hurling and GA Football), Classic cars, rally cars, tractors and agricultural implements, marching bands, a bloke dressed as Saint Pat himself, a unicyclist juggling hurleys (the 'hockey sticks' used in hurling), a stilt walker, people dresed as The Simpsons for no apparnet reason, busses, lorries and so on. It was just pure fun - no pretensions, no airs and graces, no attempt to be 'cool' or sophisticated. Brilliant.
Mum and Dad adjourn to the nearest pub (The Druid) for a well earned pint of Guinness and a glass of red wine.
Deefs
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