Alexandria's St. Patrick's Day parade was a casualty of last week's snow but never fear, the leprechauns, the bagpipes and all of the other Irish folk will be out in Old Town this Saturday, March 8.
"We basically had to re-schedule the parade because there was just no place for people to stand and watch the parade safely," said Sandra Whitmore, the director of the city's Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Activities.
"We just didn't have enough time to clean the sidewalks adequately before the parade."
Pat Troy, who has been a chief organizer of the parade for 22 years, was dismayed. "It's only the second time in 22 years that we have had to cancel the parade," he said. "We had 27 hours from the time the snow stopped until the parade was scheduled to start. I think we could have gotten it done."
The parade will happen Saturday. The car show will begin at 10 a.m., followed by the dog show at 10:30 a.m. and then the parade at 12:30. This year's Grand Marshal will be Carol Peters.
"We did have the Grand Marshal's dinner as scheduled last Friday. We had more people than ever before, about 195, and everyone had a wonderful time," Troy said.