Letter: No Local School Bands in Irish Parade

For those lucky thousands of people who happened to be in downtown Plainfield on Sunday, the “luck of the Irish” was with you. What wasn’t with you, however, was representation from all our wonderful Plainfield school bands in the .

Providence Catholic High School Band from New Lenox was the band that participated. Plainfield schools do not perform in the Irish Parade.                  

I am one of three parade chairmen who try every year to make this one of the best Irish parades in the area. We have the most wonderful support from the village board and from the police, fire and village public works departments, but we can’t seem to convince the board that this parade is important and a part this community. 

Plainfield's homecoming parade in the fall, in which Plainfield bands do perform, is about schools and who in town went where and with who and in what year. The Irish Parade is about families, community and the magic of being green and “Irish” for a day.  

I was not born in ; I have only been in Plainfield for eight years. I have become part of this town by being involved in the wonderful programs it has to offer, getting to know the many wonderful people who are part of this community and spending numerous hours and days every year with my two friends and co-chairmen for the Hometown Irish Parade.

We have made numerous requests, through a multitude of different people, to seek involvement of the schools' bands in this event, only to receive answers of “no" or “we’ll get back to you.”

I hope that if you are part of one of the many school bands, you at least came to the parade to be “Irish for a Day” and to enjoy a wonderful event. 

I was humbled during Sunday's parade to who came out to support and enjoy this wonderful event, “but where are the Plainfield schools?”

Since we have a year before our next parade, we formally invite the school bands from our community to participate next year and be green and Irish for a day. Help us make this the best Irish parade possible for our community. 

Please check out our web site at plainfieldirishparade.org. And let’s talk about next year.

Dan Cassidy, Plainfield Hometown Irish Parade chairman