'If This Was Ireland'

Blanchor, the GSAS Henry Fellow from England, said that he was at the parade to learn the results of Saturday's rugby match between Ireland and England.

Blanchor said he noticed several differences between St. Patrick's Day in Ireland and the American celebration.

The half-dozen trucks representing beer companies from Guinness to Budweiser were similar to some Irish floats--with one key difference, according to Blanchor.

"If this was Ireland, they'd be handing out the beer on the streets," he said.

Blanchor was impressed by the float from the Burren Pub--the only group that played authentic Irish folk music, he said.

Kam admitted his St. Patrick's Day expertise was somewhat less than his friend's.

"I don't know anything about Ireland, but I loved 'Far and Away'" he said.

Local Business

Local merchants agreed that the parade was good for business.

"Business is booming," said Doina I. Contescu '89, who operates the My Dog kiosk in the Shops by Harvard Yard. Contescu said that business was up by as much as forty percent from usual Saturdays.

J.B. Jain, who operates the Watch Works kiosk across the arcade from My Dog, said that he had as many sales by 2:00 p.m. as he has all day on a usual Saturday.

Judy A. McGrail, a manager in the Harvard Coop, said that while she didn't notice a large increase in total sales, sales of Harvard insignia items were unusually high.

Au Bon Pain manager Gurung Sachen described business on Saturday as "excellent."