A trifecta of warm spring weather, top-flight racing at Oaklawn, and the start of spring break at Arkansas schools drew thousands of people to Bridge Street Saturday for the First Ever 15th Annual World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Coupled with the star power of "Napoleon Dynamite" star Jon Heder as the official parade starter, Joey Fatone of *NSYNC fame as celebrity grand marshal, the first appearance by the iconic Budweiser Clydesdales and the annual return of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, it made for a nearly unbeatable combination, one of the parade's founders said.
"We had a great first day, Friday was awesome, the weather was great," said Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison. "It's just been the perfect weekend and I'm sure it's going to end up that way. We have a lot of people in town and I think everybody had a great time last night."
Grand Funk Railroad rocked the St. Patrick's Day stage at the east end of Bridge Street Friday, gearing people up for the holiday's festivities.
"(Grand Funk) was a great show," said Shamrock Queen Rose Schweikhart. "It seemed like really good energy and the weather was perfect."
Schweikhart, owner of Superior Bathhouse Brewery, and Anthony Valinoti, owner
of DeLuca's Pizzeria, were named Shamrock Royalty for this year's festivities.
"It's been the best weekend of my life," said Valinoti, Shamrock King. "St. Paddy's shining down on us."
Valinoti said the role has been a little overwhelming, but it has all been in good fun.
"For a minute there it was a little much, but then you just realize that this is so much fun and you just have to embrace everything," he said. "Yesterday outside with the pop-up pub and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and the TV stations, it gets a little serious. But we've had so much fun doing it. Rose and I have just enjoyed this every minute of the way and we almost hate for this to be over."
Heder took the stage Saturday during the annual St. Patrick's Day VIP Luncheon hosted by Visit Hot Springs at the Hot Springs Convention Center and shared a bit of the holiday's tradition with the crowd.
"If you guys don't know the true meaning behind St. Paddy's Day, the true color is blue," he said, dressed head to toe in blue, with just a strand of green beads. "I just actually learned that backstage -- that's the truth. But it timed perfectly with this outfit. The only way you can make green is with a little blue, you guys. This is great, this sea of green I'm really feeling underdressed."
Heder told The Sentinel-Record he arrived late Friday and had dinner downtown. But he didn't get a true taste of Hot Springs until early Saturday morning.
"This morning I just went out and walked (Bathhouse Row)," he said. "It's beautiful, I love it. Learning about the history. I love whenever I travel to places that aren't on my 'map,' jumping into that little world. I love that it's nestled in between all this greenery.
"I may have to take a bath. I'm a weird, in-between tourist type. I don't normally like to do the touristy things and yet in my later years I feel like I have to. So I may have to take a bath and heal myself and restore my vigor."
Fatone got into town Friday afternoon and said he took the night to get rested up for Saturday's festivities.
"I got in last night, later afternoonish and I kind of just chilled because I knew today was going to be a long day of obviously, I'm sure, drinking and everything else," he said. "I literally just chilled because I've been traveling a lot, so I wanted to rest so I wouldn't be exhausted and tired for today. I am ready to go."
Fatone said he had heard it was supposed to rain on the parade "and all of a sudden it just lightened up, it's amazing."
"When people tell me this is the shortest St. Paddy's Day parade, I always like telling people about it and they're like 'What,' he said. "I tell them to look it up. It's pretty damn big; people don't realize how big it is."
Even though he's Italian, the grand marshal went Irish for the occasion, decked out in green.
"Everybody's Irish today, is that right?" he said. "People that are of the age of drinking, enjoy the day. I'm so happy to be here, very excited, can't wait. I know I've heard a lot of good things."
Fatone told the crowd gathered that former grand marshal John Corbett actually told him he needed to be a part of the parade.
"John Corbett, obviously a good buddy of mine from 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' called me up and said 'Hey, you've got to do this event, it's probably one of the best events out there,'" he said. "So I'm excited to be out here. So far the hospitality has been great."
Local on 03/18/2018