Corktown Parade

There are two universal symbols of St. Patrick’s Day in my heart: Shamrock Shakes and the Detroit St. Patrick’s Day Parade!  The parade is held in Detroit’s historic “Corktown” neighborhood and always draws a huge crowd of fans.  The Star Wars characters from Great Lakes Base and Great Lakes Garrison have grown to be a crowd favorite.

Corktown Inn

Personally, this parade has become one of my annual pilgrimages up to Michigan – as it has for many of the Ohio members of Great Lakes Base.  The parade has become one of the foundations of the bond shared between members from both states.  For a while, there was doubt whether there’d be enough people motivated to organize another year with the parade.  In the end, I think people realized the Detroit St. Patrick’s Parade is as important to us as we have become to the fans expecting to see us!

Thank you!

 After “daylight savings” robbed yet another hour of sleep from us -- it was time to fire up the engines and GPS for the Motor City.  Once again, Rebels and Imperials gathered at the lovely Corktown Inn -- where we rent one of their conference rooms to get geared up and store our bins for the parade.  Traditionally, this room would have been packed like a C3P0 action figure case, but this year saw a much smaller group then we’re used to.  And because we signed up later then usual, our group was placed towards the back of the parade formation – so we had a little time to kill waiting to start off.

As we approached the starting line, the President of the parade committee made a point to thank us for marching and once we made the turn onto Michigan Avenue -- thousands of Detroit residents shared in that sentiment!  All along the parade route, people of all ages wanted to get a picture with one of the Star Wars characters -- whether it was Jedi, Rebels or Kilted Stormtroopers and TIE Pilots. Many people would even rush into the street for a quick snapshot whenever our section of the parade was stopped.  And let me tell ya (despite our best efforts) there is no such thing as “just one more” when it comes to photo requests.

Erin Go Bragh... and May the Force be with You!

Overall, this year’s Detroit St. Patrick’s Parade was a success – even if we were a “small rebel force” compared to past years.  Next weekend, several of us from Great Lakes Base will be making the hyperspace jump in the other direction, to march with Echo Base in the Pittsburgh St. Patrick’s Parade.