AGAWAM – After a two-year hiatus, the “Irish season” honorees of winter 2019-20 will finally get their day in the sun at the 69th Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Laurie Wright, past president of the Agawam St. Patrick’s Committee, said there will be “nothing different” about the Agawam contingent in the March 20 event. Agawam will plan on “doing the same” as it would have in March 2020.

The coronavirus pandemic broke out in the United States and a state of emergency was declared in Massachusetts just days before St. Patrick’s Day festivities had been scheduled in Holyoke in 2020. That meant canceling the parade — one of the largest in the nation, and a civic celebration not only for Holyoke but for several neighboring towns, including Agawam – after local organizing committees had already chosen colleens and parade marshals, built floats and honored annual award winners. The pageants, awards and parade were canceled again in 2021, while the pandemic still raged. The 2022 parade will be a chance for all the preparation from the months before the pandemic to finally be seen on the streets of Holyoke.

“We’re very excited for Agawam to walk down the parade route,” said Wright.

Emma Thompson will represent the town as its colleen, after having applied for the honor in 2019 and having been selected at the annual pageant in early 2020. Brianna Viens and Brianna Benjamin will also ride the float, as members of her court. All three individuals were seniors in high school when they were selected for the 2020 parade; they are now sophomores in college. The Agawam St. Patrick’s Committee sets an age limit for colleens at 20, said Wright.

The design of Agawam’s annual parade float has always been “very secretive,” according to Wright, who will be driving the truck that pulls the float. Until parade day, only the individuals who built the float know what it looks like, and even the Holyoke Parade Committee knows only its name. The float to be used in 2022 was built for the 2020 parade, and has been kept literally under wraps for the past two years — even its storage location is a secret.

“It’s been in hiding,” with five tarps over it, Wright said.

She said she’s eager to let the float be unveiled, so that the volunteers who built it can be recognized for their work.

“Everyone does a different job [on the floats]. It’s cool to see what comes out from this,” said Wright.

The three adult award winners chosen by the St. Patrick’s Committee in late 2019 will also carry their recognition into the 2022 parade. The 2020, and now 2022, parade marshal is Laurie O’Connell, who is also vice president of the Agawam St. Patrick’s Committee. She was nominated for this award and received it based on her involvement in town, service on the committee and Irish heritage.

The recipient of the Anne Sullivan Award is Kate Benson, member of the St. Patrick’s Committee. This award honors the female committee member who best exemplifies the spirit of Sullivan, the Feeding Hills native who became famous as Helen Keller’s teacher.

The Citizenship Award recipient is Anthony Boido. Wright said this award is given based on volunteerism and community impact in Agawam. “Boido owns TNT Tent Service and has donated a lot of his time,” along with giving back to the town, said Wright.

The three award recipients will walk in the parade ahead of the colleen float.
Behind the float, Wright said there will be a van with some members of the Agawam St. Patrick’s Committee. Additionally, Mayor William Sapelli will march along with some city councilors and School Committee members, followed by the Agawam High School band and cheerleaders, and the Agawam Police and Fire Departments.

Agawam will be second in the lineup this year, behind Holyoke. While Holyoke always comes first, the other towns with divisions in the parade rotate their order each year.

Wright described the parade as a “must see” event.

“Going up that hill is a whole other world with people cheering, partying, seeing people you know… it’s overwhelming with the amount of people,” Wright recalled.

Not only has she recognized it within her own group, but in all the groups, she said: “There’s a glow that overcomes everyone.”

“Our committee and float committee work hard to get it done,” said Wright.

The parade will step off on March 20 at about 11:10 a.m., a little earlier than usual, from the former Kmart Plaza on Northampton Street, and follow the traditional route to downtown Holyoke. Television coverage begins at noon on WWLP-TV, Channel 22, as well as wwlp.com, from a new filming location on Beech Street. The parade’s website, www.holyokestpatricksparade.com, has further details about the time change and parade route.

As of press time, the city of Holyoke has a mask mandate in place, which will apply to both participants and spectators, unless the city changes its regulations.