The saying “everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day” seemed the case Sunday at Aurora’s second annual Daniel D. Dolan Sr. St. Patrick’s Day parade and an Irish flag-raising ceremony as people came together to celebrate the holiday in the city’s downtown.
“Thank you for everyone showing up here,” said Dan Dolan Jr. during the flag-raising ceremony held outside the GAR Museum at 23 E. Downer Place. He was accompanied by family members and a cardboard cutout of his dad, whom the Aurora St. Patrick’s Day parade is named after, showing him in shorts, cowboy boots and a green hat.
“He would have loved to see the diversity here,” Dolan said. “Everybody at the parade has the twinkle in their eye that my dad had on St. Patrick’s Day.”
The parade started on Downer Place and Water Street and wound its way west on Downer with crowds gathered to watch Irish dancers, marchers and a guy on stilts dressed in a green suit.
Dan Dolan Sr. died in February 2020. He was born and raised in Aurora where he operated a real estate firm for decades. He was also an Aurora firefighter for six years, his son said.
“He loved everything Aurora had to offer, the diversity and the love for our hometown,” Dan Dolan Jr. said of his father. “Please, everybody love each other, especially on St. Patrick’s Day. Bless you.”
The elder Dolan was a longtime Aurora Realtor and philanthropist. Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin said he was a “man who loved this community so much and brought so much of his culture here and built a legacy that is now carried on by the Dolan family.”
Irvin proclaimed March as Irish American Heritage Month in the city. He said Irish Americans played a “crucial role in helping find the soul of our nation,” he said. Aurora celebrates the Irish people’s “contribution to our world, country and our city,” he said.
The mayor also honored Aurora Fire Chief Dave McCabe with the Emerald Excellence Award for his dedication to the city and in honor of his Irish background.
“I very much appreciate this from the mayor’s office,” McCabe said. “I do appreciate everything I get to do for the city of Aurora.”
He said the 250 men and women of the Aurora Fire Department, both sworn and civilian employees, are out there every day protecting the city and take pride in their work.
“I want to recognize every single one of them,” he said.
North Aurora resident J.C. Green was decked out in St. Patrick’s Day attire for the parade, including a green beard. He stuck around after the parade for the Irish flag-raising ceremony.
“It was awesome,” Green said of the day’s events. “It’s a great community event. With the sun out it’s great. It’s cold but at least the wind wasn’t bad. The luck of the Irish was on our side.”
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
