The festivities in Corktown celebrated Irish heritage, featuring a bagpiper whose bagpipes were found in time for St. Patrick’s Day
Standing outside Most Holy Trinity church in Corktown after Thursday afternoon Mass, Brian Leslie puffed his cheeks and played the notes to « Amazing Grace. » Leslie, a veteran whose instrument was stolen a month before St. Patrick’s Day, was proudly holding his returned prized possession: a set of 50-plus-year-old bagpipes from Scotland that he’s owned for 12 years. Outside the church, Leslie and the members of the Celtic Pipes and Drums of Michigan band posed for pictures with churchgoers. The mood of the green-clothed guests shifted from serious to revelry as they readied themselves for the next stage of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, that of drinking and laughing. Leslie was ready to join in the fun, and bring his bagpipes with him. « It’s nice when you can go blasting into a bar with bagpipes blazing and now everybody is instantly smiling, clapping and jolly, » Leslie said. Soon after the crowd melted away outside Most Holy Trinity, Leslie found himself at Nemo’s Detroit on Michigan Avenue with bagpipes blazing, entertaining the crowd with a drinking rendition of the Lord’s Prayer. People laughed along as Leslie led them through the beer prayer, which begins with, « Our lager, which art in barrels. » As he played the bagpipes from the stage, a woman began tentatively Irish dancing. « I learned on YouTube, » Diane Lupo of Detroit said with a laugh.
