OTHER NEWS
St. Patrick's Day Parade to be held March 13
The 31st Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be held in downtown Sioux Falls on Saturday, March 13. The traditional Painting of the Shamrock will take place at 9th Street and Phillips Avenue at noon to officially kick off the day’s events. The parade will begin at 2 p.m.
The parade forms at 5th Street and Main Avenue beginning at 12:30 p.m. Vehicles will be lined up on a first-come, first-served basis and will proceed through the downtown area. Thanks to sponsorships from Avera, Sanford and Xcel Energy, the Khartum Pipes & Drums from Winnipeg will again perform at the parade and various locations. Thanks also to the Holiday Inn City Centre for their help with parade activities.
This is the second year that the St. Patrick’s Day parade will not take place on St. Patrick’s Day. In 2009, the St. Patrick’s Day Extravaganza committee, which plans the parade with support from Sioux Falls Area Chamber of Commerce staff, decided to move the parade permanently to the Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day. The decision was made in order to better accommodate visitors who come to Sioux Falls to celebrate the holiday.
Dick Murphy, owner of Mrs. Murphy’s Irish Gifts along with his wife, Sandy, is the Grand Marshall for the 2010 parade. Murphy has been a loyal attendee at each of the previous 30 St. Patrick’s Day parades in Sioux Falls. The Murphy family has also had a float, or several, in every parade. Murphy served in the U.S. Air Force and after graduating from the University of South Dakota was a social worker with St. Mary’s Hospital in Pierre. He returned to his hometown of Sioux Falls and made his dream of opening a shop that promotes and caters to the Irish culture and heritage a reality when Mrs. Murphy’s Irish Gifts opened for business in 1997.
There is no entry fee to participate in the parade. The only requirement is that each adult (age 16 and older) participating in the parade must purchase and wear an official St. Patrick’s Day Parade button. The cost is $2 per button, the proceeds of which are donated to the Special Olympics. Buttons are available at the Chamber of Commerce office. For more information, go to www.siouxfallschamber.com and click on the St. Patrick’s Day Parade under the Events & Programs/Annual Events link or call Cindy Christensen at (605) 373-2016.
