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For the eighth consecutive year, the St. David’s Day Parade will be taking over the streets of Columbus Junction. St. David’s Day is a Welsh tradition in honor of Saint David, who passed away on March 1st, 589 A.D. The idea for the parade came from the mind of Troy Pugh after a trip to Wales, “About nine years ago, I took my grandfather over to Wales and toured around and went to the town where his dad grew up. We had a great time over there. When we got back the person who ran the newspaper in Columbus Junction had a little St. Patrick’s Day parade and they would go from the newspaper up to the bar and that was their little parade. I thought, ‘Well gosh, if the Irish can have a little St. Patrick’s Day parade, surely the Welsh should have something with the large number of Welsh decent around the Columbus Junction area.’” Once word got out about this parade, the Welsh descendants came out and helped make it possible. The parade is now entering its eighth year of existence and continues to serve as a celebration and learning opportunity of Welsh culture. This year’s parade will happen on March 7th starting at 1 p.m. and will begin at the viaduct and end at the legion. The event will end with a lunch complete with traditional Welsh dishes and songs. Everyone in the community is welcome to join.