Holliston in Bloom to Hold St. Patrick’s Day Roast

If you’re up for a traditional Irish breakfast, with a bit o’ traditional Irish humor, head on down to Holliston in Bloom’s St. Patrick’s Day Roast at Christ the King Lutheran Church on Saturday, March 17th, at 10 a.m., at 600 Central Street, Holliston. For $15, you’ll be treated to traditional Irish fare of various meats, black pudding, eggs and Irish soda breads, prepared by local residents Shelly and P.J. Kilkelly. Tickets will be available at the Town Clerk’s office, from Holliston in Bloom members and at the door.
“This is a sort of Bobby Blair’s takeoff on the South Boston roast that former Massachusetts Senate President Billy Bulger was so popular about, where you invite a lot of local politicians,” says Mary Greendale, of Holliston in Bloom. She points out that a lot have showed up in the past, including Ken Szajda, Kevin Conway, Mark Ahronian and Carolyn Dykema.
“Dykema brought the house down with a video she did about Bobby Blair. She created an ode to Bobby Blair. It was hilarious,” says Greendale.
Holliston in Bloom has just had a bit of a reorganization, says Greendale. Kathy Shore and Cherry Fenton are now co-chairs, filling in Mark Ahronian’s shoes.
“The year ahead, we will be competing for America in Bloom,” says Greendale. “We expect the judges to be here in July as it has in the past, but we don’t have any firm dates yet. Our hope is the bridge will be done and the trail, those will definitely be big focal points. We’re leading up to creating a timeline for the year and identifying places where we will go in and replace annuals with perennials to make (plantings) more sustainable.”
Greendale says Holliston in Bloom would like to find landscapers willing to “adopt an area” and help with ongoing maintenance.
“Everyone gets to enjoy (the flowers) but not everyone likes to do work,” says Greendale, “but it’s really just a couple times a year, to do weeding, watering, if you divide it among a number of people.”
Greendale says the drip irrigation system in front of the First Congregational Church is very useful, and HIB would like to see, at some point, about installing them in a few other places, as the system uses less water and needs less in terms of personnel.
Of course, Greendale adds, “We’ll be planting in May, and prior to that there will be some sort of cleanup.”
If you’d like to find out more, visit www.hollistoninbloom.org.