POTTSVILLE, Pa. — Pottsville doesn't have the largest St. Patrick's Day parade in our area, but organizers say it's one of the most passionate.
That's why it's cancellation amidst the Coronavirus outbreak is so difficult to take.
"With all of the events throughout the world and throughout the country, we realized as much as we wanted to have a parade this year and celebrate our grand marshall, who is our mayor of Pottsville, we just really realized we can't have something like that this year," explained Daniel Koury, Pottsville Parade Chairman. "It's not appropriate."
All across the country, games and other events have been canceled for the foreseeable future as the coronavirus pandemic takes center stage.
Across northeastern and central Pennsylvania, a region that has a proud Irish heritage, it's hard for many to grasp the fact that there will be no St. Patrick's Day parades anywhere this weekend.
"There's just a spirit through town that's been resilient for years," Koury added. "It's really a shame, and it's really something that the town was really looking forward to."
City restaurants like the Crimson House on Centre Street were expecting huge crowds on parade day.
The restaurant ordered extra food and drinks, and workers are not sure what steps to take next because all of this is so new and unprecedented.
"We have to play it relatively safe, and for the time being, I think us and the neighboring restaurants are probably going to remain open," said co-owner Patrick Burns. "That's day-to-day, but we won't be promoting it as a big St. Patty's day bash kind of thing."