St. Patrick's Day

The Stealing of the St. Patrick Statue

By: Devan Macke

Every year on the third Sunday of February at the 2 o’clock mass at the Mt. Adams Holy Cross Immaculata Church, the season of St. Patrick is kicked off with the stealing of the St. Patrick statue. The members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians are there, wearing their green sashes over their shoulders. The Emerald Society is there as well and members are dressed in green plaid kilts and hats and carry their bagpipes or drums. The service proceeds as all others do on Sundays, with the statue of St. Patrick right in front of the pews. At the end, a man from the Hibernians stands up and announces the winners of three different awards that are given out each year to the people who have helped put this special event together. Then, the band of bagpipes and bass drums lines up on the left side of the church. A group of men from the Hibernians loft up the St. Patrick statue and take it out the side door, followed by the band. The statue is then put in the back of the pickup truck and everyone who was in the church-the Hibernians, the priest, and the regular church-goers-parade the statue throughout the streets of Mt. Adams. The parade ends at Crowley’s Pub for a celebration.