Today is Girardville’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.. each year, crowd sizes vary depending on weather and interest..
In 2008, interest was high: Former President Bill Clinton visited the town while campaigning for his wife, Hillary Clinton, to become president.. Two tries ago before Barack Obama and Donald Trump defeated her in two election cycles..
30,000 people were on hand in Girardville, on a bright and cold March day in 2008.. The former president was the seventh in recorded history to visit Schuylkill County — the first since Richard M. Nixon visited Garfield Square, Pottsville, in 1968..
Clinton joked on his arrival that when he was told of a parade in Gville, he wondered why he would go to a parade that is 12 days late and a small town.. until he figured out they voted for him and they had coal history.
Ben Wolfgang of the REPUBLICAN HERALD reported events this year, a fleeting moment in time,
Flanked by Schuylkill County Democratic Chairman Ed Kleha and other Democratic officials, Clinton emerged from the home of Charles A. Marquardt, Girardville Borough Council president, at 12:28 p.m.
After a meal of pizza and pierogies, Clinton, U.S. Rep. Tim Holden, D-17, state Reps. Neal Goodman, D-123, and Tim Seip, D-125, began the trip through Girardville. Clinton, however, scarcely moved more than a few feet before visiting with well-wishers along the side of the road.
Many fans wore outlandish hats celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, prompting a short dialogue with the ex-president.
“Where’d you girls get those hats?” Clinton asked. “If I could wear a hat like that, I’d go into a different line of work.”
“It’s unbelievable. People love the president,” Holden said. “He can’t walk five feet without people stopping him.”
The thought of a former president eating a Tony’s Screamer–the traditional food flare of Guntown, is somehow both bizarre and amazing coupled in one. Also it is an impactful moment in history where you can compare where you were to then… your age at the time, your surroundings.. your circumstances. Where were you when you shook Bill Clinton’s hand..?
Were you feet away like me? Snapping a photo on the original iPhone and posting on Facebook–or maybe MYSPACE!? Or were you like my own mom, overcome with immense joy when she saw Clinton, reminiscent of teenage girls when they saw the Beatles?
11 years ago now.. as the beat goes on.
The sea of green will continue today .. but it won’t be 30K people strong…
Not until some future current or former president decides to visit the tiny little town on a parade day in late March.
