On a beautiful, sunny early spring day, about 40 Gaels made their way down to the charming house-lined streets of Alexandria to take part in the annual Ballyshaner's St. Patrick's Day Parade. Alongside a real cornucopia of characters—pipe bands, marching bands, Irish wolfhounds, Shriners in their little cars, a horse-drawn carriage straight out of Banshees of Inisherin—a group of club members young and old made their way down King Street, waving at all the onlookers.
The parade was a great chance not only for us all to get out of the house on a lovely day, but to get out and grow the visibility of the club and try to recruit new members. Several young Gaels were out in front, sharing the responsibility for marching with the main club banner. On the edges of the crowd, a few older players walked around with hurls and footballs and got people who came to watch give the games a whirl. Business cards were handed out, and one sign held aloft for all to see that encouraged folks to come sign up for the club (where else?) at the local watering hole.
After the parade, the club set up a little recruiting booth outside Daniel O'Connell's pub on King Street down by the water and spent the afternoon swapping stories and encouraging newcomers to get involved with the club. Many thanks to the Ballyshaners organization and the City of Alexandria for putting together such a fun day out.
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