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Plans For 243rd St. Patrick's Day Parade Announced At City Hall

By Kim Glovas

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The 243rd running of the Philadelphia Saint Patrick's Day Parade is planned for this Sunday, March 10th. Plans were announced today at City Hall.

Nearly everyone gathered for the announcement was wearing green, including the dancers who regaled the attendees.

Bob Gessler, the president of the Saint Patrick's Day Observance Association, says this year's theme is "The Philadelphia Irish Memorial: A Decade of Remembrance."

"A lot of people would like to call it the Irish Famine, but it really was the 'Great Hunger,' where one group oppressed another group and we lost one million Irish people. Another million immigrated -- they were so lucky -- in Philadelphia. And really in the United States, so many came here and became part of the fabric of our country," Gessler says.

The Philadelphia Saint Patrick's Day Parade is the second oldest parade in the nation, behind New York's Saint Patrick's Day Parade. It will air on CBS 3 on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.

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