As the first vehicles in the 20th Annual Paddy Hough Parade appeared in the distance, Isabel Giacchino and her neighborhood friends jumped up and down on the sidewalk near West 20th and Main streets.
“Mommy, it’s getting close,” the 4-year-old shouted. “Get out of the street.”
Her mother, Lisa Giacchino, smiled and obliged her daughter’s wish, returning to the sidewalk to watch the oncoming procession.
“(The parade) keeps getting bigger and bigger,” said Giacchino, 42, who has lived in the Hough neighborhood for 12 years. “It makes us happy.”
Hundreds of spectators lined Main Street on Thursday afternoon amid overcast skies to watch the Paddy Hough Parade, an annual St. Patrick’s Day staple in which Hough Elementary School students honor the birth of their school’s namesake, Patrick Hough (pronounced Howk). The parade’s family atmosphere and celebration of Irish heritage has made it a yearly ritual for residents of the Hough neighborhood and the rest of Vancouver, attendees and organizers said.
“This is why people live in Vancouver,” said Kate Sacamano, executive director of the Hough Foundation. “It’s that small-town feel. Neighbors know one another.”
Thursday’s parade went “better than we could have imagined,” Sacamano added, noting she was pleased with the turnout and the participation of local businesses and the community, in general.
The elementary students marched behind class banners with themes such as “Learning Helps You Grow” and “Somewhere Over The Rainbow,” and were later awarded prizes for school spirit and creativity.
There were classic cars, a student band performing samba-style drumming and an appearance from Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt, the parade’s grand marshal. The parade also featured a 9-foot-high likeness of Hough, a one-armed Irish schoolmaster who eventually settled in Vancouver and became principal at the downtown school in 1891.
A persistent drizzle greeted paradegoers prior to the event’s start, but conditions during the parade were mostly dry.
“(The kids) deserve to have a good day,” said Fred McCormick, as he stood outside the Tip-Top Too Tavern on Main Street. “I wish it was warmer and sunnier.”
McCormick’s bright green hair caught the attention of passers-by, some of whom stopped and took his picture.
McCormick, a 63-year-old Vancouver resident, dyed his hair for the amusement of his 7-year-old granddaughter.
“Because of all the white hair, it makes it shiny,” McCormick said when asked to explain his vivid hair color.
After the parade, McCormick planned to eat corned beef and cabbage for the first and last time this year. He compared his St. Patrick’s Day ritual to that of eating turkey on Thanksgiving.
Toward the parade’s tail end, parents walked hand-in-hand with preschool-age children along the Main Street route. Some youngsters threw candy and beads to onlookers.
Years after he first attended the Paddy Hough Parade, Nathan Stahlman, 37, of Vancouver said it meant a lot to him to share the experience with his two young children. Stahlman’s two boys, 5-year-old Mason and 3-year-old Quinn Patrick, wore green tie-dyed T-shirts they had made at school.
“Families are such a hodgepodge these days that it’s nice to celebrate the individual pieces of where we come from,” Stahlman said. The Paddy Hough Parade “is one of the benefits of living in Vancouver,” he added.
