New Time and Location for Vancouver's
2009 St. Patrick's Day Parade
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THE VANCOUVER POLICE Motorcycle Drill Team lead off the St. Patrick`s Day parade |
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
VANCOUVER - The sixth annual St. Patrick's parade and CelticFest is a wonderful time to celebrate your Celtic Heritage.
From March 11 to 15, the Edgewater Casino CelticFest Vancouver will be showcasing and bringing together some of the finest international and Canadian recording artists for one of the biggest and best-loved Celtic festivals in western Canada.
CelticFest and the St. Patrick's Day parade will not take place in 2010 due to the Winter Olympics, so don't miss the opportunity in 2009 to participate.
This is an opportunity to promote your organization or product to the thousands of people, who will once again line the St. Patrick's Parade route. If you haven't already registered your organization or business for this year's St. Patrick's Parade - you can still do so up until one week before the parade.
This year's parade promises to be bigger and better with some important changes. First of all, the route has been changed from Granville to Georgia Street. This will offer better visibility with the wider street.
The parade time has also been changed to 11:30 AM on March 15. There will be a fly-by at noon over the parade route which all adds to the excitement of the day.
The Celtic Village Market also has a new location at the Vancouver Art Gallery. This will offer the arts and crafts of many of the local artisans along with specialty UK food item tents.
I recently spoke with Steve McVittie, who has been the Parade Marshal for the past six years. He is the man responsible for organizing the floats and keeping the parade on time each year.
He said, "having the St. Patrick's Day parade go down Georgia Street is going to be a vast improvement this year since Granville is such a narrow street. You really couldn't see the floats until they were right on top of you. This way, the kids will have a better view of the overall parade and be able to see the floats away back in the parade.
"This year we also have a lot more active participants, rather than static participants in the parade. By that, I mean a lot of parades have entertainment on their floats, but they don't have the movement and excitement that we have in our parade such as bands, horses, animals and dancers.
"We have 47 float entries, all with some kind of music sound. This is just tremendous and it will be a lively parade from beginning to end."
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STEVE McVITTIE |
Steve McVittie is also the owner of The Celtic Treasure Chest, bakery, deli and gift shop in the Dunbar area and The Celtic Treasure Chest Bakery and British Imports in White Rock. His business will also have a tent at the Celtic Village Market.
With the snow and ice and terrible weather conditions around Christmas and the New Year holidays, prospective Christmas shoppers were simply not able to get out to the shops and as a result many merchants complained of lost revenue.
I asked Steve if the weather had any impact on his business. He said, "The snow blizzards didn`t impact us at all. In fact, we had record sales in December and January. Sales were just outstanding.
"I think, people just got tired of hearing about the economy and just said 'to heck with it all, I'm just going to treat myself'. The finances are one thing, but the pleasures in life are another.
"I couldn't believe the merchandise that was going out the door, and also the volume that customers were buying. We must have gone through about 850 pounds of haggis a week and a half before Robbie Burns.
"Before Christmas we ordered two batches of Dubliner sausage and the next day we phoned our supplier and told him that we were sold out. He couldn't believe it! We were also shipping orders all over the province as well.
"What I hear at the stores and also at the St. Patrick's Parade is people who tell me that they are first, second or third generation. They are proud of that and want to celebrate their heritage and that includes enjoying the specialty foods. People really want to know their roots."
Steve McVittie is not only proud of his heritage, which is English, Irish and Scottish, but he has visited the cities and towns where his ancestors came from and actually visited the houses where they once lived.
"My father was born in England, my grandfather in Dublin, and my grandmother in Edinburgh.
"So when I go to the old country, I can visit my great-great grandfather's house in Dublin which was built in 1834 and still standing in mint shape. The carriage house in the back is now a garage and I was given a tour of the property.
"When I go to visit Bedford, England, there is the house where my father was born and the schools he attended. The owner showed me the street that he would have walked up as a little kid.
"Actually, I was getting goose bumps just actually being in the house, on the property and street where my ancestors had lived and walked. I don't think there are too many people who can trace their ancestors like that. Just lately, we discovered relatives living in Australia where there are 30 or 40 more relations just waiting to be discovered."
Celtic Treasure Chest now has the full line of Barry's Irish teas, they also have the full-line of Thornton's Fudge and Toffee (this item went crazy at Christmas).
They also offer Sherbert Fountain, Irish Soda Bread, Brown Bread, Bam Brack (a nice tea bread, loaded with fruit and made with marmalade). They also have the new Marks and Spencer Hazelnut and Orange Biscuits which are delicious.
For more information about CelticFest, or to register your organization or company with Steve McVittie in the St. Patrick's Parade, visit: www.celticfestvancouver.com
The Celtic Treasure store is located at 5639 Dunbar Street in Vancouver, B.C. Call (604) 261-3688. The Celtic Treasure Chest Bakery and British Imports is located at 1534 Foster Street in White Rock, B.C. Call (604) 538-2277.
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