All parade photos by Jean Bredin, Blogfinger Staff. 3/12/17. Asbury Park © Click to enlarge.
Cookman Ave. Asbury Park. 3//12/17 Photo by Jean Bredin ©
By Jean Bredin: “Today’s freezing temperature didn’t keep away the people who came to see the St Patrick’s Day Parade in Asbury Park, although I noticed they were mostly standing on the sunny side of the street.
I saw more green hats, green scarfs, green sneakers, green hair, green beards, and green deely-boppers than I could keep track of.
The minute you heard the bands coming up Cookman, you forgot about the cold.
My favorite were the string bands. The head Mummer strutting back and forth in his colorful outfit to the music makes me happy
I think I’m a closet Mummer. I would love being part of that group, but I don’t play any instrument….. I can only strut.”
It’s not easy being green. All photos by Jean Bredin. Blogfinger staff ©
It’s not easy being Jean. 3/12/17. ©
THE IRISH ROVERS:
Actually: If you are talking about Purim, you should know that our Purim celebration was posted on the exact day of March 12.
And, if you were Irish, like me, you would know that St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17, but sometimes there is flexibility. This year, in Belmar, the SPDP was held on March 5, but in A.Park it was held on March 12, and NYC does it on March 17.
And don’t forget those holidays where they are always held on the correct day e.g. Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years Day, and July 4. And then there are the Monday holidays such as Memorial Day where the Monday rather than the date is paramount. And there are others where the date varies for various reasons.
Do we actually celebrate ANY Holiday’s on the actual real date of the holiday?
The mummer with the fancy striped feather hat is expressive, beautifully composed and makes one feel as if they were at the parade. The Irish Rovers added to the realism. This may be the Blogfinger “festive picture of the year”.
Jean: Better to be a mummer than a mummy.
By the way, speaking of Purim and St. Patrick, the mayor of Dublin was once a Jew. (Robert Briscoe, 1956) That small community goes back about 1,000 years. It speaks well of Irish tolerance. —Paul