March is my favorite time of the year. I was born in March - brought home from the hospital on the day of Chicago's downtown St. Patrick's Day Parade.
In addition to being the unofficial start of spring and warmer weather - March is my favorite month because it celebrates the Irish (whether you actually have Irish blood or not) while March Madness encompasses everyone (whether you are a basketball fan or not).
This year, we have already seen two monumental basketball upsets - with second seeds Duke and Missouri being ousted in round one within an hour of each other. This proves to be an exciting NCAA Tournament.
But my favorite thing about the month is the parades. And last weekend, I had a chance to attend and cover the Michigan City St. Patrick's Day Parade - but also make a long-awaited return to the South Side Irish Parade, which has made its return to Western Avenue after a two-year hiatus.
Both parades had the perfect weather, atmosphere and people.
Everyone was well-behaved - even on Western Ave., where parade-goers knew this would be the last one if they weren't behaved.
The SSIP featured a few of my favorites - including the Marist High School band, SXU 2011 NAIA Champions, the Wee Folks of Washtenaw-Talman (who began the original parade in 1979) and the Gainer Family, a long-standing south side parade tradition, as well as an emotional tribute to the fallen Cpl. Conner Lowry - a Beverly native who died while fighting in Afghanistan.
Many attendees had donned shirts proclaiming the 2012 event as "Conner's Parade."
The bagpipes really got people in the mood for both parades.
In Michigan City, the Summer Festival float (of which I was on for the route down Franklin Square from 4th to 11th streets), was situated right behind a group of pipers in kilts.
The say everyone loves a parade - and last week that was the case on both sides of Lake Michigan.
Photo: Bagpipers march down Western Avenue during the return of the South Side Irish Parade.
