WEST SPRINGFIELD – The St. Patrick’s Committee of West Springfield has announced that a “Drive-By St. Patrick’s Day Parade” will take place on The Big E fairgrounds from 1 to 3 p.m. on March 13.

The committee felt that this would be a great alternative option for a parade since the usual Holyoke celebration was cancelled for a second year in a row because of COVID-19. According to Joanne O’Toole, a colleen mom and member of the committee, invites were sent out to other cities across the greater Springfield area. As of press time, Chicopee, Agawam, Springfield, and Westfield were other cities that said they would join in the parade festivities.

“We’re really excited that we’re going to be able to do that,” said O’Toole. “We really would love people to come and decorate their cars … and people in the cars can do the Colleen wave.”

Spectators will have to stay in their car to maintain the social distancing guidelines, according to O’Toole, and for those who do attend the parade, the committee is asking them to bring a non-perishable food item for a food drive that will be conducted at the same time.

“There’s a lot of food pantries that need help right now, so that’s a plus to this,” said O’Toole.

Colleens, marshals, and courts will line the Avenue of States on the fairgrounds and will wave at the cars passing by. As of press time, the committee was still trying to determine which colleens would be there since some of them are off at college.

“We’re doing it for the girls,” said O’Toole. “We thought this would be a great idea.”

West Springfield Fire Chief William Flaherty, who was the parade marshal in past years, will be in attendance, along with other fire trucks. “It’s great, because the kids do like that,” said O’Toole. “I think if nothing else, we’re going to get a lot of families – a lot of aunts and uncles of the girls, because it was really disappointing last year.”

According to O’Toole, the committee was originally planning on having the parade at the West Springfield High School, but The Big E ended up offering their location for the celebration.

“Everybody knows where The Big E is, so we thought it was the perfect place,” said O’Toole. “The parade is kind of a big deal for us, as small as it seems.”

In normal years, the committee also spearheads a scholarship program, where they hand out one scholarship to the colleen and four other scholarships to the other four girls in the colleen contest. They have also have had a separate scholarship program in a separate committee where contestants write an essay and submit their resume. Another scholarship is open to both boys and girls of Irish descent called “The Hills of Ireland.” Because there was not a colleen contest due to the pandemic, O’Toole said that the committee only plans on handing out “The Hills of Ireland” scholarship this year, where contestants also submit an essay.

“We really didn’t want to lose momentum from the community,” said O’Toole, who explained that the committee will continue fundraising for the scholarship program. “This is the hard part of us about not having a colleen.”

For those interested in the parade or other aspects of the St. Patrick’s Committee of West Springfield, visit their Facebook page listed here: https://www.facebook.com/westsidestpats.