2022 St. Patrick’s/Evacuation Day Parade Plans Underway

The South Boston Allied War Veterans Council – abbreviated here to “SBAWVC” – has already begun planning for the 2022 St. Patrick’s/Evacuation Day Parade. St. Patrick’s Day and Evacuation Day occur on Thursday, March 17, this year, and as usual, the 2022 Parade will take place on the Sunday closest to St. Patrick’s Day.

So, on the afternoon of Sunday, March 20, this year’s Parade will step off promptly at 1 p.m. from the intersection of Dorchester Avenue and West Broadway, and will march along a route that has been submitted to the City of Boston for formal approval. If approved, the Parade will proceed along Broadway to P Street, march up to Dorchester Heights, and then disband in Andrew Square. The proposed Parade route is just over three miles long; it will last approximately three hours.

It is essential to plan for major events several months ahead, so the SBAWVC arrived at its decision to organize and schedule the 2022 Parade last fall. Obviously, the Parade is totally and completely an outdoor event, so it was felt that it would be safe to proceed. Other open air events this year range from the New Year’s Day Polar Plunge to the Super Bowl in February. Perhaps the local event most like the Parade will be the 126th running of the Boston Marathon on April 18, four weeks after the Parade’s date.

The SBAWVC’s 2022 Parade organization has been set up. Dave Falvey is the Commander of the SBAWVC; the Parade Chief Marshal this year is Susan McDonough. You may recall that Susan had been selected as the Chief Marshal of the 2020 Parade, which was canceled due to the pandemic. Her merits as a leader, along with all the effort she put into that Parade, made her an obvious choice to be given another opportunity to serve as the Parade Chief Marshal in 2022. At this time, the Parade’s organizers have already gotten 47 units signed up to march; the aim is to have 90 (or more) on board by Parade Day.

Bryan Bishop is again serving as the Director of Parade Operations, including the Parade’s staging area where the units form up and step off. Mike Igoe is the Parade’s Treasurer once again; Matt Olson is handling Corporate Sponsorship. The Parade officials are seeking volunteers to help out before Parade Day and on the Day itself. Check out the Parade’s website at southbostonparade.org, and then please volunteer – this is one of the most challenging, meaningful ways you can support South Boston.

A key pre-Parade activity is the Mayor of Southie campaign, a Parade fundraising effort. Jay Fallon is the Parade official in charge of the 2022 Mayoral campaign – please contact him for more information, or if you yourself would like to have the pleasure of running (jay@southbostonparade.org or 617-460-7516). Past Southie Mayors Haley Dillon (2019) and Christina Andrade (2020) have volunteered to advise you on conducting your own campaign – you won’t be alone.

And here’s a final plug for the work of the SBAWVC – once again, that’s the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, a hard working, non-profit, veterans’ group in South Boston. The next time you’re on Day Boulevard at Marine Park, take a look at the USS Kearsarge Anchor Memorial. This is being reconstructed and refurbished through SBAWVC fundraising efforts by sculptor Bob Shure, who has created other important South Boston memorials.