By Julia Beauregard
Hometown Weekly Editor
At the top of the morning, on Friday, March 17th, Walpole seniors ventured to the South Street Center, to celebrate the return of the annual St. Patrick’s Day breakfast.
“This is one of the biggest events we’ve had in awhile. We haven’t had this event since 2019; so it’s finally back! It was a long held tradition here,” Kerri McManama, COA director, shared. Over one hundred seniors were expected to be in attendance.
The Walpole Firefighters came together behind the scenes to cook and serve a hot breakfast to the seniors. The buffet-styled breakfast platter consisted of toast, pancakes, bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns.
While breakfast was not scheduled to be served until 9:30am, the South Street Center was packed full of people, causing doors to open early so everyone could find their seats. Donuts, cookies, and cupcakes, paired with a coffee bar, were available for the guests to snack on while they awaited their breakfast to be served.
The Al McKay Duo, which consisted of brothers Al and Jim McKay, from Providence, Rhode Island performed for the crowd. The brothers played traditional Irish pub songs, folk tunes, and jigs, bringing a touch of Ireland to the senior center for this affair. “You’re welcome to sing along in between bites!” Al joked with his audience.
The Firefighters set up their impressive arrayment of foods, before calling the seniors up to fix their plates.
The seniors headed to the buffet platter, table by table, showing off their green attire. Many of the guests wore festive necklaces, scarves, hats, headbands, boas, and bow-ties. Everyone chatted over breakfast, sharing laughs and stories.
It surely felt like it was the guests’ lucky day, as an annual fan-favorite event returned and it was easy to see why: music and laughter filled the air throughout the event and the seniors left with full bellies and smiles shining as brightly as a pot of gold.
