SUNY-ESF Joins Syracuse St. Patrick's Parade
1000 packets of seeds distributed
ESF students and staff marched in the annual Syracuse St. Patrick's Parade March 16, distributing 1,000 free seed packets to spectators along the route.
The seed packets reflected the name of ESF's parade entry, "Green Fields Will Bloom."
The students used ESF's newly painted emerald-green bus as the base as they constructed a flower garden bursting with brilliantly colored blossoms. The entry's name was adapted from the broader parade theme, "Four Green Fields Will Bloom Once Again," taken from folk-singer Tommy Makem's popular ballad. "Green Fields Will Bloom" served as a reference to ESF's rehabilitation of "brownfields" industrial sites and efforts to create a sustainable future.
The seed packets, which included several types of flowers and vegetables, were donated by Chase-Pitkin, Taft Road, Liverpool.
This is the second year in a row that ESF students have constructed a float for the Syracuse St. Patrick's Parade. The three-hour parade marked its 20th anniversary this year. It is a major civic event that has been dubbed "the largest parade per capita in the United States."