‘Slap in the face’: Bridge closure looms over Hudson’s St-Patrick’s Day Parade

With St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, Embers restaurant is donning the green — it’s in preparation mode for the annual parade that takes place in Hudson, Que., this Saturday.

“It’s actually the biggest day,” said Embers co-owner Mundy Hagen. “Bigger than our Christmas parties, New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day — it is single-handedly the biggest day for us.”

But Hagen is worried that this year’s turnout might be a little soft after hearing that Quebec’s transport ministry will be shutting down the Île-aux-Tourtes bridge, in both directions, for the entire weekend.

“We’ve been dealing with this kind of ongoing throughout the winter, and it affected us throughout our holiday season a little bit,” Hagen said. “But when I saw it for this coming weekend, it was a slap in the face.”

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The parade, organized by the Soulanges Irish Society, is a community-driven event meant to bring out families to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and to shine a light on Hudson.

Last year, about 25,000 people lined the streets of the small town to celebrate.

Local storeowners say the bridge closure is worrisome — and they hope people will seek alternative ways to get here.

“There’s a lot of hotels and motels out here so if anyone wanted to come out the day before and beat the bridge and take advantage of that, so that they can be here and celebrate,” said Leanne-Marie Durocher, owner of Centre Décor Hudson.

The Soulanges Irish society says it has been in touch with the region’s MNA, who is trying to implement mitigation measures for parade-goers, such as having police officers synchronize traffic.

They say those planning on attending the parade can use Highways 20 or Highway 30.

They suggest people plan ahead, arrive early and even stay later.

Regardless, the society says the parade will go on, and they won’t let the closure dampen their spirits.

“If you go back to the heritage of the Irish spirit, they’ve had a few knocks over the years and have always come through,” said Jay de la Durantaye, president of the Soulanges Irish Society. “So this is just another one of those that we’ll deal with, look on the brighter side and find a way to work our way through it.”