St. Patrick's Day, Healdsburg-Style: Parade Set for Sunday

When it comes to St. Patrick's Day, no one does it quite like Healdsburg. And this year is no exception.

On Sunday, everyone will come out in green for the annual St. Patrick's Day parade set to start at 7 a.m., at the B & B Lounge. This annual event has become a hometown tradition in Healdsburg and is the starting point of the day's festivities.

The Healdsburg Rotary Club will be out and about on Sunday with green hair. It's all part of their annual Green Hair Day fundraiser to help eradicate polio. The Rotarians have been dying their hair green on St. Patrick's Day for about four years, said Brent Stanley, the club's president -- as a way to get into the festivities and raise money for a good cause at the same time.

The day will be punctuated by hot plates of corned beef and cabbage. The B & B Lounge will begin serving traditional Irish grub starting at 1 p.m.

Over at cooks are ready to prepare 100 pounds of corned beef and cabbage and will be serving it up from 4 p.m. to about 5:30 p.m. A local singer will be doing a rendition of "O' Danny Boy" at 6 p.m. -- it's always a highlight of the festivities.

Practically the whole city will turn out for the parade -- among them city leaders, students, families, and business and church members. It's the place to be in the North Bay.

What can you expect from the parade?

As our writer Bob Santucci puts it: Usually present at this event is most of the Healdsburg City Council, at least one county supervisor, many local teachers, at least one of our local preachers, dozens of local Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce business people, a parade queen, a couple of non-motorized floats, a motorized bar stool, several dogs, a couple of fire trucks, a couple of hot rods and a bagpiper. The procession will flow past the large balloon arch that will cross high above Healdsburg Avenue in the 400 block.

What is your favorite part of the parade?

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