GIRARDVILLE, Pa. — The last time the community in Girardville celebrated the luck of the Irish with its popular St. Patrick's Day parade was back in March of 2019.
Last year’s parade was postponed, then canceled due to the pandemic and stay-at-home order.
Now parade organizers say for the second year in a row, the parade will be postponed out of safety concerns for residents and parade participants.
“The decision had to be made last year because obviously, we were in the midst of a pandemic. And you can't have a parade in the pandemic,” said Loretta Murphy-Birster, a member of the Girardville Parade Committee.
Murphy-Birster says the parade will not be held as scheduled on March 27, and while it’s a disappointment, there’s no other option.
“It's an easy decision to make this year because we're still in the middle of a pandemic, and you can't have masses of people congregating together, especially at something like a parade,” said Murphy-Birster.
“Yes, the commerce for our borough is phenomenal, but at the end of the day, we got to keep people safe,” said Girardville Mayor Michael Zangari. “We can't put our own citizens at risk, let alone all the folks that come in and enjoy that day.”
Sandy Selgrad owns Centiole's Pizza in Girardville and says the place made good money during the last parade in 2019 but understands why this year's event had to be pushed back.
“Oh, definitely!” said Selgrad. “We have to keep people safe and with everything going on.”
While parade officials are saying the parade has been postponed and not canceled, no new date has been set at the moment.
Wendy Harhigh of Girardville believes parade officials acted too quickly this year.
“It's going to come to a close soon. I mean, everyone's getting vaccinated and stuff, I think will too soon for them to postpone it,” said Harhigh.