Cape Cod St. Patrick's Parade filled with music, heroes could be the biggest ever

YARMOUTH — A groundbreaking ship commander, a Pearl Harbor survivor, more than two dozen floats, at least 15 pipe and drum bands, a salute to a heroic dog, Clydesdale horses, an aerial flyover and possibly 50,000 spectators.

With all that and more, Route 28 is due to be awash in a sea of green Saturday as the Cape Cod St. Patrick’s Parade returns — in a huge way — and in the right season this time.

“So many, so many people want to do (the parade). We’ve gotten such a reaction,” said Desmond Keogh, chairman of the parade committee, as he ticked off some of the dozens of groups that will be part of the early St. Patrick’s Day festivities. “This is great. It's looking like it's probably going to be the biggest parade we've ever had.”

As of Monday, the committee had listed more than 80 groups as marchers, floats, bands or vehicles following the 11 a.m. parade’s theme of “Scatter Joy.” If the weather’s good — and the long-range forecast has been favorable, Keogh said — he estimated there could “easily” be 50,000 fans drawn to the celebration.

If past events are any indication, most will be wearing green, shamrocks or otherwise expressing enthusiasm for Irish culture.

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Pre-pandemic parades for the 16-year-old tradition typically drew more than 40,000 people to line up along Route 28, with the 1.9-mile parade route winding from Long Pond Drive in South Yarmouth nearly to Higgins Crowell Road in West Yarmouth.

And this year's giant celebration had to be organized in just a few months after the 2021 St. Patrick’s parade happened, albeit in September because of a delay over COVID-19 concerns.

Parade organizers have worked with town health officials to again space out marchers more than usual and will encourage spectators to wear masks as needed. But Keogh said he is optimistic that the weather and the fewer recent COVID-19 cases will encourage participation.

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“People are ready to be back doing the parade and being outdoors,” he said. “Everybody’s ready to get their lives back, they’re ready for a party.”

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With so many people and participants expected, the committee for the first time will set up a line of satellite speakers so music can be heard along the parade route, as well as an announcer who will relate the parade order from the kick-off point.

Beyond the marchers and the music, the parade will feature a variety of special guests, some of whom will receive awards. This year’s parade “mayor” will be Dawn Roche of Yarmouth, who lost her son, Trevor Maler, 26, to an opioid overdose in 2018, and has since become an advocate for addiction treatment, veterans and others.

Receiving awards this year will be Pearl Harbor veteran Freeman Johnson of Centerville, who will turn 102 on March 11 and has been part of the past two parades; and Yarmouth Police Chief Frank Frederickson, who will retire later this year.

Headlining the parade as grand marshal will be Commander Billie J. Farrell, who in January became the 77th commanding officer of the USS Constitution in Boston and the first woman to serve as commanding officer in the ship’s 224-year history.

Farrell's many Naval assignments have included the USS Vella Gulf and USS San Jacinto, as deputy commander of the Naval Surface Forces Atlantic, and as executive officer aboard the USS Vicksburg, according to information from the parade committee. She has received two Meritorious Service Medals, four Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals and three Meritorious Unit Commendations.

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“She would be inspiring to anyone because of what she’s done,” Keogh said of Farrell’s participation in the parade. “I was talking to someone who has young daughters about how it's going to be an inspiration for women to see. She's young … 39 years old, so you can see what can be achieved when you work hard and the opportunities are there.”

Keogh noted that Farrell will be accompanied at the head of the parade by the ship’s 1812 Color Guard, and possibly sailors from her unit, in historic dress.

The Naval group is excited to participate, he said, because of the Cape's connection to the Boston-built Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned warship still afloat, and to the era of its crucial involvement in the War of 1812, as well as patrolling sea lanes from 1797 to 1855.

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Capt. John Percival, of West Barnstable, was the only captain of the Constitution to circumnavigate the globe, parade organizers note.

“So it's going to be pretty neat that the commander of the USS Constitution is walking down the heart of Cape Cod” after hundreds of years of shipping routes around the Cape, Keogh noted. The Navy personnel “know a lot of the history of the area, so they're looking forward to seeing the sea captains’ homes, the Old King’s Highway, the whole history of it.”

Honoring Nero and more

Another recent milestone with important local ties being celebrated at Saturday’s parade is Gov. Charlie Baker's Feb. 15 signing of the bill to establish Nero’s Law — which allows EMS professionals to treat and transport police dogs injured in the line of duty. Yarmouth police dog Nero was badly injured in April 2018 when Yarmouth police Sgt. Sean Gannon was shot and killed while trying to serve a warrant in a Marston Mills home.

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In Saturday’s parade, there will be a special banner celebrating that law’s passage, as well as Nero and Gannon, that will be carried by a motorcycle unit from the Big Nick’s Ride for the Fallen, said Keogh.

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Also on the list of participants are Clydesdale horses, the Highland Light Scottish Pipe Band, the Yarmouth Minutemen, the Boston Police Gaelic Column of Pipes & Drums, mounted Massachusetts State Police officers, the Irish American Police Officers Association Pipe and Drum Band, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy Band, the Kanaley School of Irish Dance, the cast of the Ireland-set "Once" musical from the Academy of Performing Arts in Orleans, the Boston Windjammers band, members of Shriners International, and Goat Green Cape Cod (creating “goats on a float,” said Keogh with a laugh).

Depending on the weather, parade organizers are also hoping for a flyover from the U.S. Coast Guard. And there may be more surprises to come, Keogh said.

After the parade ends, officials hope spectators and participants will stay in the area, and they have arranged Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority trolleys to continuously loop up and down the Route 28 parade route from 1 to 6 p.m. to stop at local shops, restaurants and other businesses. Free taxi rides will be available for revelers in the evening, with help from Yarmouth police.

“It can be a day’s event,” Keogh said. “We want families to enjoy themselves.”

For more details on how to best enjoy going to the Cape Cod St. Patrick’s Parade, check out www.capecodtimes.com.

Contact Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll at kdriscoll@capecodonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @KathiSDCCT.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod St. Patrick's Parade could be biggest yet with 50k fans