While some may think of St. Patrick’s Day as the day to wear green and drink beer, which may also be green, members of Augusta’s Irish American Heritage Society see it as much more.
It’s a chance to celebrate their culture, family, faith and community, and it’s not just a single day each year.
“We celebrate it all year long,” said Megan Snead Goldberg, coordinator of the Society’s Irish Lady of the Year tea, held March 3 at St. Mary on the Hill Catholic Church parish hall.
Each February, the organization names its dignitaries — the parade Grand Marshal, the Irish Family of the Year and the Irish Lady of the Year — at the annual Grand Marshal Ball. The ball is the largest attended event with the annual tea coming in second.
This year’s tea honored Patricia Armstrong Nichols as the Irish Lady of the Year, and the women spent the afternoon laughing, taking photos and enjoying refreshments.
“It brings the generations together,” said Goldberg.
And that’s something that Ann Marie McManus, whose family was named the Irish Family of the Year, feels is most important and is sometimes lost in today’s society — the generations coming together. The organization’s members are the threads in a tight-knit community who share in each other’s joys and sorrows.
“I like how this is the younger and older together,” said McManus, who could point to many women in the room who’d impacted and shaped her own life by their examples.
Women, she said, are the backbone of the community.
“They imprint on the little ones. That’s how values are established,” she said.
There was little pomp and circumstance on the afternoon. Walter Hutto, the organization’s president, Russ Gambill, the parade grand marshal, and Nichols, all gave brief welcomes before the two men left allowing the women to enjoy to the festivities.
Read More: Irish American Heritage Society announces 2024 dignitaries
Nichols said she’s been honored to receive the designation.
“I can’t tell you how shocked I was when they told me,” she said.
Being part of the organization is important to her because she’s proud of her Irish heritage, she said. She’s looking forward to the parade which is March 16 rather than on St. Patrick’s Day itself and hopes for good weather.
Because of construction on Broad Street, the parade route is different this year. The organization observe Mass at the Church of the Most Holy Trinity prior to the parade which will begin at 2 p.m. at James Brown Arena parking lot.
It will turn left on Telfair Street followed by a right on 11th Street, and then an immediate right onto Greene Street, where it will end at Sixth Street, according to the organization’s website.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
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