The Chicago South Side Irish parade will take off from 103rd and Western at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 11th. It will back better than ever and parade organizers promise: safer.

After a two-year hiatus, the excitement and spirit of the South Side Irish parade will be back. The comeback of the parade is due to the hard-work and persisitence of the Parade Committee led by Jim “Skinny” Sheahan. It was Skinny who never gave up on the idea of reviving the parade and was helped by dedicated Committee members, like long-time parade enthusiatist and participant, Jack Kelly. (Kelly and his wife Maureen’s participation in the parade have been chronicled in several books).

While there may be some more hurdles for the parade committee to clear, Jack Kelly says, “I can’t see anything that will stop us now.” Kelly feels strongly that the parade is going forward and that optimism has spread to the committee and to the community, as evidenced by the overwhelming attendance at the fundraiser. Not to mention the generous support of the community.

Kelly told The Examiner, “The fundraiser went great. We had over a 1000 in attendance. I don’t know the final numbers but in addition to the ticket revenue we were real happy with the silent auction, raffles and merchandise sales. Everyone was being very generous.”

Jack Kelly and the Committee promise that all is being done to keep this parade safe and back to its roots as a family event. “We also signed up a lot of volunteers to be marshals the day of the parade,” Kelly said. “People are excited that the parade is coming back but they are also 100% on board with recasting the parade back into the family friendly event as it was in the past?”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has also been a supporter of the parade, telling the Chicago Tribune in the middle of January he was on board and was keeping an open mind.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel today gave a thumbs-up to the return of the South Side Irish Parade despite concerns some have about security and alcohol.

“That parade is a recognition to Irish Americans who call Chicago home,” Emanuel said after today’s City Council meeting. “It is my hope that after a few years of hitting the pause button, people remember a way to celebrate their heritage, celebrate and be proud of it in a way that’s also respectful of the community and the neighborhood.”

“It’s been a two-year pause, we’ll give them a chance to do that.”

The Chicago Sun Times editorial board also weighed in and urged once more chance for the parade.

Beverly is one of those strong and racially diverse neighborhoods that form the backbone of Chicago. It’s a classy neighborhood that voluntarily killed its annual parade three years ago because the parade had no class, or not enough.

But many Beverly residents dearly miss the parade, a once sweet tradition that began in 1979 when a small group of moms and dads pushed kids in strollers around the block a few times.

Let’s hope for the best for this year’s parade. May it once again be much more about parents and children than about college kids in beer buses.

Amen.

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John is the author of an award-winning book, the 2010 Winner of the USA National Best Book award for African-American studies, published by The Elevator Group Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots: How Barack Obama, Two Bookstore Owners, and 300 Volunteers did it. Also available an eBook on Amazon. John is also a member of the Society of Midland Authors and is a book reviewer of political books for the New York Journal of Books