Page 10 - BusinessWest March 7, 2022

few friends drive down the street honking their horns. “That was the extent of the parade.”
Over the course of the past two years, the parade committee has never really stopped preparing for the 69th parade, he went on, adding that some things have gone on as they normally would, like the annual past presi- dent’s raffle and a memorial mass for deceased members of the committee.
Meanwhile, there has been planning — much of it via Zoom — for events this year, such as a gala staged late last month at the Log Cabin, the annual Awards Night, and many others.
As for the parade itself, it will be roughly the size of previous parades, with 15,000 marchers expected, close to 30 musical units, and 19-20 floats. What Joyce and everyone else expects to be larger this year — as in much larger, is the level of anticipation for both the parade and the race.
“It’s really hard to describe,” said Joyce. “Anywhere I’ve gone over the past few years and especially the past six to eight months, people have walked up and said, ‘Marc, are we having a parade?’ ‘Are we having a parade next year?’ People are excited to have the parade back.”
That’s especially true within the business community and its hospitality sector, which has suffered mightily over the past 24 months, as we’ll see.
Glass Half Empty
‘Crazy.’
Wasting no time at all, that’s the word Damien Rivera used to describe road race day
at the Unicorn Inn on High Street.
“Really crazy,” he went on, gesturing with
his hand around the two rooms that comprise this cozy neighborhood bar, adding that, by late morning on race day both rooms would be crammed with standing patrons — stand- ing because the establishment can fit more people in if there are no tables and chairs on the floor.
Elaborating on ‘crazy,’ Rivera, a long-time employee who once lived above
the bar with his father, Bobby
Rivera, the establishment’s bar
of those who celebrate it, especially when the holiday falls mid-or even early week and the parade as always, is on a Sunday — generates more than a third and perhaps even half of an entire year’s revenues.
What was it like to be without that week two years a row? Rivera simply shook his head and said “awful.” And by that, he was referenc- ing more than just lost revenue.
“It’s a celebration,” he said of road race day,
“
business, it’s civic pride,
it’s the community
”
manager, detailed all that goes into race day at the Unicorn, which is even bigger than parade day, because, as he noted, the race ends at that northern stretch of High Street, and that’s where peo- ple congregate; the parade, in con- trast, is spread out over a larger area, and thus the crowd is more spread out as well.
It’s bigger than
He said that extra help is hired,
a separate beer station is set up so
that bartenders are not slowed by those who simply want a bottle of suds. There’s a DJ, and a deeper menu of food options is created, all in hopes of attracting race fans, who have a number of options when it comes to where to quench their thirst and whet their appetite.
Summing it all up, Rivera said simply “this is our Super Bowl — that’s the best way I can describe it,” meaning it’s the biggest, most lucrative time of the year. How big? Without giving specific numbers, he estimated that St. Patrick’s week — yes, it’s a week to many
but also the entire week and beyond. “Holyoke is historically Irish, so when that week hap- pens ... it’s timely, it’s cheery, it’s a bright cele- bration of Irish culture, and for the businesses, this is our most important time.”
He said that establishments like the Uni- corn depend on parade-week festivities for more than just revenue. It’s also a great mar- keting tool, a way to make introductions with potential new patrons.
PETER ROSSKOTHEN
“It brings people from so many places,” he explained. “If they
Parade
Continued on page 13
coming together.
10 MARCH 7, 2022
FEATURE
BusinessWest