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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sharin’ o’ the green

Early rain gives way just in time for parade

The weather looked so dreary Saturday morning that Mary Eberle offered to take her four boys to the grocery store for candy instead of heading down to the parade and getting sweets there.

“They wouldn’t hear of it,” she said.

The sky above downtown Spokane dried just as the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade was about to begin, allowing a noticeably thinner crowd to put their umbrellas down as the parade entries wound their way through downtown Spokane.

Dannie Neal and her family have come each of the past eight years to the parade hosted by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, and she wasn’t about to stay home this year.

“We went and bought an umbrella just in case,” she said. “You can’t not come.”

She wore shamrock earrings, a shamrock hair clip and a green shawl. Others in her group were similarly attired with things from Neal’s “bucket of green stuff” at home.

“We just add to it every year,” she said of their collection of green accessories.

This year Neal brought along a parade novice, Jennifer Schmitz, who proudly sported a shamrock headband.

“I’m loving it,” she said as the parade streamed by in front of her. “This is wonderful.”

Eberle, who had offered her kids the trip to the grocery store, said she noticed that the crowd was much smaller than usual.

“It’s kind of a cold day for a parade,” she said as she turned up her coat collar against the wind.

She’s been bringing her family to the parade for the past decade.

“I was a Lilac princess, so maybe that’s why I love a parade,” said Eberle, who represented Lewis and Clark High School in 1998.

The parade included several bagpipe groups, including the Angus Scot Pipe Band and the Spokane County Firefighters Pipes and Drums. Spokane Mayor David Condon was near the front of the parade, wearing a kilt as he handed candy to children with their hands out.

There were more than 150 entries in all, including all-terrain vehicle riders, Irish dancers, fire engines, basset hounds and horses dyed green.

Stephanie Michelson and a friend wore matching green tutus and earrings made out of Lighthouse Lager beer caps to watch the parade. She also wore a large collection of green beads, pins and buttons. Her outfit was topped off by a small, green hat perched on her head.

“It’s just the fun of the day,” said Michelson, about why she likes to dress up for the event. “ ‘Everybody is Irish for the day’ is the cliché statement.”

Michelson is not Irish but said she’d love to live in Ireland. “I’ve been there,” she said. “I want to go back.”