Get your green on: The 36th annual Lawrence St. Patrick’s Day Parade will hit downtown at 1 p.m. Friday.
The big celebration — which will head north on Massachusetts Street through downtown, across the bridge and through North Lawrence — is the culmination of the parade committee’s efforts, including numerous fundraising events each year.
Massachusetts Street will be closed from Sixth to 11th streets starting at noon and continuing until the parade passes. (See the route below.)
The parade committee each year chooses Douglas County area children’s charities as beneficiaries. This year’s charities, according to an October announcement, are:
• Cantemos, a new children’s choir for Douglas County third through sixth graders with only one requirement: a love for singing. The organization is “gathering a growing circle of signers who represent a rich diverse, racial, religious, economic, and cultural backgrounds,” according to the announcement.
• Sunrise Project, which “provides space and opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to build an equitable community through education, good food, and social connection,” the announcement summarized. “They provide community meals and gardens and youth programs and so much more.”
• And O’Connell Children’s Shelter, which provides emergency residential care for youth with the goal to “assist youth in connecting with family or caregivers that will support and strengthen youth to move beyond state custody,” according to the announcement.
The 2023 Parade Queen is Lawrence community member Cassie Gilmore.
Check the parade’s Facebook page, facebook.com/lawrencestpats, for the latest updates.
If our local journalism matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first