CLEVELAND — The oldest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Ohio is held in Cleveland, according to event organizers. With about 10,000 participants and tens of thousands more people watching from the sidelines, it’s one of the biggest annual events in the city.
Members of the Irish American Club East Side prepare a float for the parade each year.
John Wachter is a project engineer by profession. He brought those skills and some power tools to help build this year’s entry for the club.
“And it keeps me out of the house a little bit and gives my wife a break,” he said.
Wachter isn’t a full-blooded Irishman.
“A very thin percentage, about 8%,” he said, according to Ancestry.com.
But that’s enough to be a member of the Irish American Club East Side for more than two decades. He confidently wears a T-shirt that reads: “Cleveland Irish.”
“Because on the 17th, everybody’s Irish,” Wachter said.
Even athletes like Tom Brady and Michael Phelps have Irish in their blood and places for their pictures to ride on the float. This year’s parade theme is “A Salute to Irish American Athletes.”
“It says, ‘victory in sports, victory in life,’” said club member Wes Feathers, reading a large printed medallion on the float. “It’s in Gaelic.”
While Wachter builds the float’s foundation, Feathers is the creative brains behind the design. Parades are a big part of his life.
“All the way back in my high school days I did floats for homecoming, Bible school,” Feathers said.
But none are like Cleveland’s cultural event. Feathers said it’s serious business with stiff competition. They even construct their parade entry in a top secret location away from prying eyes.
“In fact we don’t even know where this is,” Feathers joked. “We just come here and get it done.”
The group only reveals the finished float when it’s ready to roll downtown. The float themes were announced last fall and the team spent about six weeks tearing down their old float and building the new entry. Feathers said they try to re-use and recycle as many parts as possible from year to year.
“We try to make sure it’s detailed enough, but not overly gaudy,” Wachter said. “And try to make to where it’s pleasingly visible from 30 feet away.”
Last year they had a little extra time to work on their entry, after COVID caused the cancelation of the previous two parades.
The club took home the top prize for themed floats and was named best unit of the parade in 2022.
“It was a dynamite float,” Wachter said. “This one looks gold.”
But gold is the color of champions.
“Outside the 2016 championship parade for the Cavaliers, there isn’t, I don’t think, a bigger parade,” Wachter said. “There just isn’t.”
The group is excited to share some Irish traditions and hoping to nail down another win.
Cleveland’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade kicks off at 1:04 p.m. March 17, starting at Superior and 18th and making its way down to Public Square.
