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St. Patrick’s Day Celebration: A First of its Kind
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by Achhunna N. Mali '08
 This year’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration at Hampden-Sydney College took place
with great spirit. On Monday, March 17, the campus community
observed the College’s first-ever St. Patrick’s Day parade, which
marched down College Road and Via Sacra . Students, faculty, and campus children took part in the celebration. Everyone was on the street, watching the floats pass
by and rejoicing to the sounds and beats of the parade.
 The celebration day did not begin with such festivity. Being the first day
back after spring break, I was not looking forward to attending classes. A
week of leisure and relaxation had hampered my ability to concentrate in class.
I waited eagerly for my lectures to be over so that I could take part in the St.
Patrick’s Day celebration. The event consisted of a parade and an Irish
feast and was organized by Professor Ciaran Buckley, International Visiting
Scholar from Ireland. The event began at 4:30 in the afternoon and
participants included representatives from various campus
clubs, faculty, and a marching band and dancers from Prince Edward County High School.
 The
parade began its march on College Road, making its way towards the new library.
It was led by the Prince Edward marching band and dancers along with student
representatives carrying the Irish and the United States flags. Student
organizations including the College Republicans, the International Club, the College rugby team,
and Kappa Sigma drove in trucks decorated with green ribbons
and shamrocks to symbolize the Irish festival. Brian Burns, Media Librarian, was seen driving his green
tractor with his children onboard. People on the floats waved to the crowd standing on the sidewalks and distributed complimentary
gifts.
After the parade, the participants gathered at Professor Buckley’s house for food and drinks. In a true Irish manner, the
guests were served Irish delicacies and Irish beer. Students and faculty conversed with each other as they enjoyed the
cuisine and the temperate spring weather that evening. During the meal, two Irish musicians entertained the audience
with songs befitting the occasion.
I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the parade and would like to thank Professor Buckley for organizing the festival. The celebration brought the campus together to celebrate a traditional Irish festival and demonstrated just how
much fun parades can be.
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