Irish Eyes Smiling For Cutchogue St. Patrick's Day Parade: Photos

CUTCHOGUE, NY — The fair weather gods were smiling in Cutchogue Saturday as, under bright blue skies and spring-like temperatures, the 15th Annual Cutchogue St. Patrick's Day Parade stepped off to a cheering crowd.

The Cutchogue-New Suffolk Chamber of Commerce — now part of the North Fork Chamber of Commerce — and the Cutchogue Fire Department teamed up to present the fun-filled event.

The parade kicked off at the traffic light at Cox Lane, wended its way down Route 25, and ended in Cutchogue Village.

The parade had two grand marshals, Linda Carlson of Bridgehampton National Bank, and Cutchogue Fire Department member Jim Fogarty Sr., said parade chairman Joe Corso of the North Fork Chamber of Commerce.

Corso, discussing the origins of the parade, said the event was born because all involved felt Cutchogue needed to have its own parade.

Greenport has its annual Washington's Birthday Parade, and the Southold Town Memorial Day Parade circulates each year between hamlets, except for Cutchogue, because there is no American Legion post there, he said.

"We felt Cutchogue needed something to bring people into the area, to give it an identity of its own. Here we are, 15 years later — and it's growing every year," he said.