Support in full force at annual St. Patrick's parade

By SEAN BARRON

news@vindy.com

BOARDMAN

Even though a longtime parade traveled in one direction, you could call the mutual gratitude between Timothy O’Hara and many spectators a two-way street.

“It’s a very emotional day,” O’Hara, vice president of United Auto Workers Local 1112, said days after the General Motors Assembly Complex in Lordstown closed Friday. “But it’s even more of an emotional thing for us to see the support along the route.”

That support was in abundance as O’Hara and about 150 other Local 1112 members and building-trades representatives marched in Sunday’s 41st annual Mahoning Valley St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which started at the Boardman Township Government Center off McClurg Road and traveled about 1.5 miles on Market Street to Southwoods Avenue.

The 41st Annual Mahoning Valley St. Patrick's Day Parade

Gallery

A stiff wind and temperatures in the mid-40s failed to deter tens of thousands of spectators from lining both sides of Market to view the family-friendly traditional event, themed “Celebrating Irish Music.” Main sponsors were The Vindicator, Mahoning Valley Irish organizations, 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, and WBCB-TV.

This year’s grand marshal was Maureen Collins, a co-founder of Easy Street Productions, the area’s sole professional stock theater company perhaps best known for musicals such as “Pump Boys and Dinettes,” as well as its annual Christmas production, “Miracle on Easy Street.”

The parade featured 172 entries, such as classic cars, animal displays and five area high-school bands, noted Joyce Kale-Pesta, president.

Local 1112 and Drive It Home Ohio campaign members also distributed about 500 posters, many designed by area artist Ray Simon, to commemorate the GM plant’s 50th anniversary and capture the sprawling complex’s 53-year history, O’Hara explained, adding that local AFL-CIO members also participated.

“We want to show our support for our brothers and sisters in the UAW,” said Rocky DiGennaro, president of the Western Reserve Building Trades association, which has about 8,000 members in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.

The association also is supporting the Drive It Home Ohio campaign, aimed at persuading General Motors Corp. to keep the Lordstown Assembly Plant open and garnering support for UAW workers.

“I’m hoping it’s not over,” added Tony DiTommaso Jr., the Building Trades association’s secretary-treasurer and senior representative for the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters Local 171 of Boardman.

Spectators cheered as a woman carrying a sign that read, “GM Lordstown, we are ready for our next product,” and participants who carried gold inflatable figures that spelled “U-A-W-1-1-1-2,” passed.

Local and regional entries included the YMCA of Youngstown, numerous area fire departments, the Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities, AMVETS Post 44 of Struthers, the Tri County 4 Wheelers Club of Lisbon, the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission, Ballet Western Reserve, the Purple Cat, Teamsters Local 377 and the Steel City Ambassadors Drum and Bugle Corps. of Pittsburgh.

Animals also were well represented, thanks to the Mahoning County Dog Warden, Angels for Animals Inc., the Steel Valley K-9s 4-H Dog Club, Pet Lodge USA of Boardman, the Lucky Llamas 4-H Club and Mineral Ridge-based Sit Means Sit Dog Training.

Plenty of dogs also seemed to enjoy the pageantry, including Duncan, a Great Dane whose companion, Amber Cribbs of New Castle, Pa., used food coloring dye to give him a light-green look.

Other attractions included a series of car acrobatics, courtesy of the Owens Construction BMX Stunt Team.

The parade also was dedicated to the late Heather E. Dobbins, who died Jan.11 at age 40 from a sudden illness after having served about 16 years with the Boardman Police Department.

The 2019 Ockerman Award recipient was Buzz Kelty, who’s been a parade marshal since its inception.

Leonard “Lenny” Fisher, Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream’s owner and president, was named 2019 Lord Mayor of Kilkenny.

The closing of the GM Assembly Plant added a poignant element to this year’s parade, but the event also allowed those affected by job losses to see firsthand the community support on their behalf, Kale-Pesta explained.

“I feel bad about GM; it’s really like losing a family member,” Kale-Pesta said during an after party at the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 66 building on McClurg Road, adding that her mother worked 20 years for the automaker.

“It’s hit everyone in this Valley so hard – everyone knows someone who worked for GM.”