It was after the 2009 South Side Irish Parade that the city decided to cancel the event that made everyone Irish for a day. Apparently they felt the festivities were getting way out of hand. It is hard to argue against that claim. Yellow School Buses of North Siders and Suburbanites would invade the other wise quite South Side Neighborhoods. Floods of people from all races and backgrounds would converge on Western Avenue and drink and eat and celebrate through out the local streets. The local Irish Bars would be packed with "Irishmen" and "Irishwomen" and closed businesses such as Insurance or Lawyer's offices would be opened to accept patrons in green clothing. Everyone was drinking (ahem, everyone legally allowed to drink, that is). One can observe such a scene and their first instinct would be "chaos." Gosh darn it though it was controlled chaos!
In all my years attending the South Side Irish Parade, I never felt unsafe or threatened. Quite the opposite, I felt welcomed. It truly is a special type of celebration when families can coexist with alcohol-enhanced adults. I am sure some people were more rowdy than others, but I never once experienced a fight nor an altercation. The only physical contact I would observe is that of the local Rugby team that would host its St. Patrick's Day game at Kennedy Park during the Parade. Oh wait; I guess you would also physically contact people when you were jammed at the corners of the street trying to cross. It does not matter any more though, thanks to the City of Chicago, we may never experience any of that again. A shame it is. Let us not forget that the core themes of the South Side Irish Parade are children, family, faith and heritage. Not everyone in attendance may have known that, but they did respect those themes. As cheesy as it sounds, the activities surrounding the parade reminded us all that no matter where we are from or who we root for, we have always have each other. Chicago needs the South Side Irish Parade.
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