St. Pat's Parade in Bayonne Came Alive With The Bridgemen!!! March 19, 2006 We all learned quickly that we needed to put on extra layers of clothing to combat the cold and the wicked wind from the West! The weather report said the the wind chill factor could make it feel in the 20s (Fahrenheit). On Sunday, March 19th of 2006, we began practicing our routines at 9am (I can't say we warmed up because who was warm!?). After locking down our routines for over an hour, we ducked inside a school for a while to get warm before the kickoff to the parade. Somewhere around noon, we joined the parade as the last unit; a generous gift from the city that wanted to save the best for last! Drummers, horn players, and color guard members filled the ranks with a great tournout of over 40 horns, over 30 drums, and around 30 guard girls. We battled the elements to show the city of Bayonne what the home team is made of and put on a strong performance for them down Broadway. We marched down Broadway to enthusiastic applause as we played “It's a Great Day for the Irish” (song #5) and “Battle Hymn to the Republic” (song #1). The eyes of Bayonne's residents lit up when they saw our rainbow flags in the distance and gave us all hearty cheers whether our drums were just giving them our streetbeat or the horns and drums were belting out a tune for them. Okay, so we bellyached a bit about how cold it was, but we were all joking about what we went through before, during, and after the parade. Erin Serfass told me that before the viewing stand, her fingers went numb and she almost felt the flagpole rip out of her hands when a nasty gust of wind came along! “But don't you wear leather gloves” I asked? “Yes, but they don't have fingers on them.” Ohhhhh. The good-natured way she told the story showed she's strong-willed and committed to the fun we have when we get together. Mary Lou (Cookie) Stanton commented, “C-C-C-Cold?? Did you say Cold??? My teeth are still chattering.....and my hands are still numb!” We all put up with what Mother Nature threw at us because we love each other's company and believe in what we're achieving in this organization. It just goes to prove what determined Bridgemen can accomplish! Executive Director George Lavelle told us on our forums, “To all of you who marched in yesterday's parade THANK YOU! You all did a GREAT JOB!! Even with the weather messing with us! The town enjoyed your performance! If we were that good yesterday, imagine after 7 more practices, what it will look and sound like, on June 10th! And last Thanks to Glen and the folks at the VFW (our home )! A great time was had by all who went back to the VFW for food and some social time!” Special thanks go to Glenn Flora and his girlfriend Jackie for all their hard work in getting the VFW Post ready for our Post-parade celebrating. Thanks Rodney Pierce for cooking up some tasty corned beef & cabbage, potatos and carrots for us hungry soldiers. And to Luis Santiago and his girlfriend for helping serve the chow. All those years in the military helped our men serve up a good time to our members, family, and friends! And thanks to Toni for serving drinks to the thirsty troops! Back to Information Articles