St. Patrick’s Day Parade

Irish Eyes Smiling

Irish Revelers

The Pittsburgh Recruiting Battalion retires its colors Friday.
(Photo by Heidi Murrin/Tribune Review)

On Saturday the second largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the country, next to New York City, took place right here in Pittsburgh. The crowd was estimated at 260,000 people attending the festivities. Downtown looked green from above, as witnessed by pilots in aircraft, as well as residents in the buildings in the area of the parade route. Local and state dignitaries along with presidential candidate Hillary Clinton made the walk, working the crowd. Pittsburgh, being the big town with small town ethics’ behaved rather well considering the size of the crowd and the alcohol consumed later in the after party in Market Square. I was able to blend in and shoot portraits of some of my newfound friends. It was a nice time on a very special day here in Pittsburgh.

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Local Military News:

Friday was a special day for local Army personnel as well. The Army disbanded the Pittsburgh Recruiting Battalion. This ended three decades of service where 54,000 recruits were first welcomed into the Army for the first time … an unforgettable event for anyone who has experienced it. The effected personnel were reassigned to battalions in Beckley, West Virginia, Cleveland, and Harrisburg. The Army Military Processing Station located in the Federal Building will still be operational.

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Sports Update:

Against all odds, Pitt won four games in a row, in four days! Thereby winning the Big East Championship! These hardwood warriors toppled the No. 1 seed Georgetown 74-65 in the finals Saturday night … they took Madison Square Garden by Storm! Well done!

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This is the last winter column of 2008. Before next week Spring will bring new life, and hope for a better tomorrow. May it also bring you hope as well.

Keep your head down,

Henry Hill, Plum Pennsylvania