Some in Greensburg, Irwin celebrate St. Patrick's Day ahead of looming virus spread

The threat of picking up a virus spreading around the globe didn’t chase away the luck of the Irish from Irwin on Saturday.

Sherry Goughenour of North Huntingdon said it was important to her to support the community.

“The local businesses, it’s hard on them,” she said. “I’m not in a stadium. We’re very careful.”

She carried hand sanitizer in her purse.

“They went to a lot of trouble because they didn’t cancel like everyone else,” she said.

Some extra precautions came with the green garb during a festival Saturday afternoon featuring traditional Irish food, libations and music. Irwin Business and Professionals Association volunteer Gary Ed dressed up like Saint Patrick and posed for photos with revelers inside Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.

The association decided to forge ahead with the event despite the cancellation of Pittsburgh’s St. Patrick’s Day parade Saturday amid concerns of the coronavirus pandemic.

In Pennsylvania, 45 cases of the virus have been reported, including two in Allegheny County and one in Washington County. Most of the cases are in the eastern part of the state, but officials have said they expect that to change.

Westmoreland County officials declared a state of emergency Saturday morning.

“We just made sure we’re going to do everything we can to be clean,” said Ed Sam, association volunteer. “If some people don’t want to come, that’s OK.”

Many who did come said they chose to because the event wasn’t strictly indoors and they weren’t around a lot of people. Gov. Tom Wolf encouraged residents this week to avoid gatherings of 250 people or more.

Events in Greensburg went on as well.

All Saints Brewing had food trucks and music. Private Greensburg group The Ash Club had a bar crawl. Mr. Toad’s plans to reschedule a party that had been planned for Saturday, according to a post on the bar’s Facebook page.

Restaurants and drinking establishments in Irwin had Irish-themed food and alcohol; Irish music and karaoke filled Main Street. A steady stream of families visited Saint Patrick early in the afternoon and picked up themed hats and beads.

Sisters Katherine and Stephanie Zagar got their photos with Ed. Saturday was Stephanie Zagar’s birthday, and Katherine Zagar was born on St. Patrick’s Day.

But that was the last outing for the North Huntingdon family, said mother Camille Zagar.

“This was it,” she said. “After this, we’re not going anywhere.”