Conference tallis::celt

156.0. "Happy St. Paddy's to everyone too!" by TALLIS::DARCY (George @Littleton Mass USA) Mon Mar 16 1987 12:46

Associated Press Mon 16-MAR-1987 04:58                       St.Patrick's Rdp

parX16-MAR-8704

   Celebrations For Irish And Near-Irish Begin Early
                             By PETE BROWN
                        Associated Press Writer
   Boston pols lunched on corned beef and cabbage, Chicago paraded
a float in honor of its best-known Irishman, and brass bands and
bagpipe brigades took to the streets as the nation got an early
start on St. Patrick's Day.
   An estimated 100,000 turned out for a riverfront celebration in
Savannah, Ga., which claims to have the largest St. Patrick's Day
celebration outside of New York City. New York doesn't hold its
parade until the holiday on Tuesday.
   Shamrock, Texas, a town of 3,500 that has a Blarney Stone
imported from County Cork, Ireland, and is said to have been named
by Irish railroad workers, gave a bash Sunday attended by about
10,000 people.
   Among those taking part in the tribute to Ireland's patron saint
was 4-foot-3 Clancy Sheehy, wearing a white beard, curled green
boots and top hat. The 59-year-old Boulder, Colo., man said he has
Associated Press Mon 16-MAR-1987 04:58              St.Patrick's Rdp (cont'd)

been playing a leprechaun since 1972.
   ``I was sitting in the forest reading a book of old Yeats' Irish
fair tales, and the kids saw me and ran back to town and said,
`There's a leprechaun in the woods.' Ever since then, that's what
I've been,'' he said.
   The tiny West Virginia town of Ireland kicked off a week's worth
of activities over the weekend that will include a hike up a steep
hillside Friday to put two pennies for good luck on the town's
Blarney Stone.
   But people in the 19th century town founded by an Irishman won't
be doing the Irish jig. ``We thought square dancing was as close as
we could get,'' said Sandy King, president of the town's Shamrock
Extension Club.
   In Chicago, the wearin' o' the green got under way Sunday with a
parade watched by about 35,000 people. Real-life politicians
marched alongside a float depicting perhaps Chicago's most famous
Irishman, the late Mayor Richard J. Daley.
   The Irish stronghold of south Boston gave a luncheon spiced with
Irish humor and song. The gathering of about 1,200 people was thick
with politicians and power-brokers, some with impeccable Irish
Associated Press Mon 16-MAR-1987 04:58              St.Patrick's Rdp (cont'd)

credentials, including Mayor Raymond Flynn and Rep. Joseph P.
Kennedy II.
   A parade later in the day drew an estimated 1 million spectators.
   Gov. Michael Dukakis, who is expected to announce this week
whether he'll seek the Democratic presidential nomination, took
part in some of the political ribbing at the corned beef and
cabbage luncheon.
   ``I know this is going to disappoint some of you. But I'm not
going to be a candidate for president,'' he announced with a pause.
``Of the Massachusetts Senate.''
   San Francisco's parade drew hundreds of spectators in sunny but
blustery weather to watch politicians, brass bands, drill teams and
singers make their way down the mile-long route.
   On Saturday, a Los Angeles parade featured a drill team of about
20 Irish setters and their masters, while in New Orleans, riders on
parade floats tossed some of the makings of an Irish stew -
cabbages, onions, potatoes and carrots.
   U.S. park police estimated 30,000 people lined Constitution
Avenue in the nation's capital Sunday for a parade.
   Marchers in Irish costumes strutted in Philadelphia to the tune
Associated Press Mon 16-MAR-1987 04:58              St.Patrick's Rdp (cont'd)

of ``Irish Eyes Are Smiling.''
   Susan Gaffney, 16, dyed her hair green. ``I want to show that
I'm Irish,'' she said.