By Khalida Sarwari
A last-ditch effort by the Saratoga community appears to have saved the annual St. Patrick’s Day event this year. After teetering on the brink of cancellation for a few days, it was announced that the show would go on for the seventh year in a row.
Keeping the St. Paddy’s Day celebration alive is the Saratoga Village Development Council, a local group whose sole mission is to bring foot traffic to the downtown area. When Marilyn Marchetti, who organized the event for the past six years, was not able to do so this year, Saratoga Mayor Jill Hunter announced that the event would likely be canceled. Not long after, she received emails from members of the community offering to help in any way they could. Some made phone calls, while others offered to volunteer on the day of the event. Hunter then announced that the event was back on.
“It’s a wonderful homespun event for the citizens of Saratoga to enjoy,” Hunter said. “The object is to get people to come down to their Village and enjoy their town.”
The 2013 St. Paddy’s Day event will take place on March 16 on Big Basin Way. Many activities have been planned for the day, with most of those catering to the little ones. The festivities are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., with everyone gathering in the Bank of America parking lot, where they’ll receive bags to collect lucky pennies and magic green rocks. They will then make their way up and down sidewalks on Big Basin Way, gathering pennies and looking for rocks in plants. The younger children will receive a gold dollar coin for every five rocks they find.
Aside from the rock hunting, families can duck into various businesses for St. Patrick’s Day themed treats. Big Basin Cafe, for example, will be giving out green pistachio ice cream. Other businesses will have green drinks or candy on hand for the kids. The Chamber of Commerce will give out popcorn, and the Sereno Group will pass out cotton candy. Y & L Style Bar will offer face painting and green nail polish.
There will be various stations with games for kids, such as one where they’ll be asked to guess how many jelly beans are in a jar. Another one will have coloring books. Other activities include rock painting and a woman who will make animal balloons for the kids.
All the treats and activities are free.
Of course, no St. Patrick’s Day celebration would be complete without traditional Irish music, in this case a bagpiper on Big Basin Way.
“It’s just a fun time to visit with your neighbors,” said Hunter. “We want the children to have wonderful memories of living in Saratoga and doing fun things.”
Nearly 300 people attended last year’s event, according to Hunter.
“Last year we had quite a crowd, as I recall,” she said.
Unfortunately, this year’s festivities will not include the Irish dancers that have been the highlight of the event in years past.
The celebration will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. along Big Basin Way. Road closures are not anticipated.
