The 2008 St. Patrick's Day Parade in Seattle was held Saturday starting at 12:30 pm with John Bruton, the European Union Ambassador to the US., as Grand Marshall with the Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire sharing the lead in the parade. She however, left after a block or so and Seattle Mayor Greg Nichols was not in attendence.
Ok, the photos. You can view them here. Again, I prefer to photograph the staging area and start of the parade. After that I focus on the people watching the parade for the first half mile of blocks or so, and then I'm done. I leave the rest to the photojournalist, something I want to eventually learn and do.
Before the flag raising ceremony I went to the Catholic Mass for Peace in Ireland at the Congressional Church in downtown Seattle. I have never been to a mass, so it was interesing. And near the end, John Bruton gave a short speech about the recent history and accomplishments for peace in Northern Ireland and translating it to the other war and conflict zones in the world.
After that I wandered around the staging area before it started. I learned that similar to the Thanksgiving Day parade, the organizers use the just in time staging for bands, dance groups/clubs and other people-only parade groups. All of those needing floats or vehicles were in the staging area. It seems you always learn, as I noticed the parade is actually longer than I thought last year.
Anyway, that's it for this year. I hope you enjoy them, and I'll come back again next year, with a little luck of the Irish.
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