YORK, Pa. — The future of a York County St. Patricks Day tradition is up in the air, at least for now.
Organizers with the York St. Patrick’s Day Parade say they need to find at least 5 people who are willing to step up as various volunteer roles.
If not, they could be forced to cancel the parade, a tradition dating back over three decades.
They need ‘skilled and energetic’ volunteers who can dedicate around 8 months out of the year to several roles, including social media, fundraising, graphic design, sponsorship, and an overall event coordinator.
A few volunteers had to step back for personal reasons which created the need.
Current volunteers say the parade adds great community value to York and a profit boost to local businesses, adding they’d be sad to see it go.
“I think there’s an argument that could be made that we need a little bit more of it. So see something like this go away, for that reason alone is sad, also there’s an economic component to the downtown businesses; there’s a lot of foot traffic on parade day,” said Dan Reilly, a volunteer on the York St. Patrick’s Day Committee.
A spokeswoman for the parade emailed FOX43 this statement in part: “It is our sincerest hope that the York St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be carried on as the affordable, family-friendly, enjoyable public event we always tried to make it. But as of now, we just want to say thank you to all of our sponsors and participants for helping us bring a little Irish cheer, music, and laughs to York for the last 35 years.”
Current organizers say the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee is willing to help future volunteers in any way possible.
Organizers say if you are interested in joining and willing to commit to being responsible for one of the identified needs, you should email yorkstpatparade@gmail.com by July 15.
You can also check out the committee’s Facebook page or website.
