Retro Junior Irish Sweater Parading

Image March 10, 2022 Elaine Van Develde

The first Rumson St. Patrick’s Day Parade of Irish sweater girls
Photo/Elaine Van Develde

Well, it’s not as retro as the RFHers’ Irish Sweater Society pic in the Register from 1980, but looking back to the first Rumson St. Patrick’s Day Parade, it looks like at least one marching group followed suit — in a much less mischievous way, of course.

No, there were no crazy special notes from conspiring parents excusing the kids from school for a jaunt to New York’s parade, but these girls definitely marched to a different tune. And they probably got a prize rather than the detention those RFHers got.

All dressed up in Irish sweaters with somewhere to go, like the last leg of the parade, they marched to the tune of an authentic Irish drum, or some such thing. This snapshot was taken at that first Rumson parade in 2013.

So, to celebrate some marching orders for the good of all and a little leprechaun-like mischief in parading, we take you back to when the parade passed by then, because, of course, last year was a year without the newer Rumson tradition.

We forget what, exactly, these girls were marching for, but if the sweater fits … it’s a tie-in with a retro twist, of course.

The Rumson St. Patrick’s Day Parade returns on Sunday at 1 p.m. down River Road. What’s your favorite marching group? The most fun to watch?

And what about those bagpipers? Rumson’s parade has a ton of those marching groups in its parade. They have long been a traditional part of St. Paddy’s Day parades. Bagpiping is Scottish, is it not? The best in the parade? Hmmmm … begosh.