Walttriznastories's Blog

DOWNNECK ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE: A NEWARK MEMORY

March 17, 2026 at 12:31 pm Leave a comment

                                           ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE

The section of Newark, New Jersey I called home was referred to as the ‘Down neck Section’ of Newark, why, I once read that it had something to do with the shape of the Passaic River as it passed the area where I lived.  And on the Sunday afternoon, closest to St. Patrick’s Day, the residents of my street were treated to what had to have been the shortest St. Patrick’s Day in the area, perhaps the world.

The local Catholic Church sponsored the parade, the steeple of which I could see from my parlor window.  It had to be held on Sunday for between my house and the church, right across the street, stood Balentine Brewery.  Weekdays were filled with the rumble of trucks quenching the thirst of a parched city.  Sunday was a day of rest for the trucks, making the parade possible.

Magically, sometime before the parade, a green line appeared down the center of our street, the first harbinger of a gala event.  I never witnessed this line’s creation, but every year it materialized.  Around one-thirty the residents began to gather on the sidewalk with the crowd, at places, one deep.  Since the brewery and Catholic school took up one side of the street, the number of residents was few.  Of course, there were always the annoying boys riding their bikes down the center of the blocked off street before the parade began.  I was proud to add to their number.

The parade began around the far corner from my house, on Market Street.  There was always a band, not a school band, but one made up of adult men most of which had almost mastered the instrument they were assigned.  Before the band came a few ruddy-faced Irish men, decked out in their top hats, waving to the minuscule crowd.  At the front of this procession were the parish priests.  The part of the parade I witnessed was the length of my street and took about thirty seconds to pass.  The procession turned the corner on to Ferry Street and marched a short way further, melting into the Down neck neighborhood.  

Entry filed under: BIO, memoir, REMEMBERANCES, Walt Trizna, Walt Trizna's Stories. Tags: Downneck, history, ireland, Irish, Newark, parade, St Patrick's Day, st. patrick's day parade, travel, Walt Trizna, writing.