Laurels & lances: Parades, pranks and play
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Laurel: To the pluck of the Irish. Doesn’t it seem like forever since there has been any kind of real community celebration? For a year, those simple gatherings that bring people together have fallen like dominoes in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
But lockdowns aren’t going to stop Lower Burrell from the wearing o’ the green. On March 6, the community will hold an early St. Patrick’s Day parade. Complete with fire trucks and participation from other groups, the event will wind down a route less than a mile long.
There are just 11,000 people in Lower Burrell, so organizers think they will be safely beneath the state’s 2,500-person threshold for outdoor events, and safe social distancing is being encouraged.
The pot of gold at the end of this rainbow is that people are eager to get back to the kind of activity they embraced before covid-19 changed things — but they are also doing so with cautious optimism.
Lance: To no joking around. For some reason, people can find something hilarious about a fake emergency. What began an eternity ago with a boy crying wolf evolved into fake fire alarms. Wednesday it was a 911 call in Westmoreland County reporting a threat at Latrobe Elementary — but police say it was just a prank, by a 9-year-old boy.
The parents will have to answer for his action, as this kind of joke is no laughing matter. It doesn’t just disrupt the school day — something no schools need right now. It ties up resources for police and other first responders, which could prove catastrophic in the event of a real emergency elsewhere. It wastes time and money. It creates anxiety and fear — again, nothing anyone needs.
It might seem like a harmless, time-honored sign of spring fever. Nope. What is it really? Dangerous, serious and just not funny.
Laurel: To anticipation. A couple of warm days after the coldest of the year are more than enough to get people looking ahead. The end of the school year. Perhaps loosened covid-19 restrictions due to falling infections and rising vaccines. The last year has been quite a roller coaster ride, after all.
And that makes a real roller coaster so attractive for so many reasons. Kennywood is getting ready to provide that as it preps the park and its main attractions for the season.
What’s so great about these rides? Let’s start with the fun. The normality. But more than anything, a roller coaster gives us what we have been denied for so long. A reliable and immediate payoff. You wait in line but you know when it’s going to end. You climb the hills but are rewarded with an exhilarating drop.
So let’s cheer on Kennywood as it gets the Racer ready. The people are definitely raring to go.