Dundee puts on a great St. Patrick's Day party
Not to discount the appeal of the Dickens in Dundee festival, Heritage Fest and the special events East Dundee plans during the year, but Dundee Township's St. Patrick's Day celebration is becoming the most popular of the year's Northern Fox Valley's parties.
By crowd standards, it accomplishes what leaders in East and West Dundee work for all year - attracting returning hungry, thirsty and happy crowds to their communities' businesses.
Don't believe it? Consider this: thousands of people are expected to line Water Street and Barrington Avenue in East Dundee on Saturday, March 11, to watch the Thom McNamee Memorial St. Patrick's Day Parade, run a Kilted 5K race, and cast ballots in an Irish Rebel Door Contest on homes and businesses.
When it is done, many of those people, a couple thousand, are expected to watch the Big Wheel races, sponsored by Emmett's Brewing Co. in West Dundee.
Before the sun sets, Dundee's Irish parties will be in the minds and the lips of enough people to fill a good-sized city. If their stay is memorable, they'll return when warm weather has a firmer grip on the seasons.
The parade is not the most important ingredient for the day. Organizers want it to be one of the most popular and watched with 80 units that march, sing and dance their way from Rosie O'Hare's Public House to Bandito Barney's Beach Club.
"We wanted this to be the largest small-town parade there can be," said Eileen McNamee, lead organizer. "I've heard last year we had about 15,000 people watching it."
East Dundee Village President Lael Miller heard it was the second most-watched parade in Northern Illinois last year.
The first is Chicago's South Side St. Patrick's Day parade.
The village of East Dundee has nothing to do with the parade, the race, the door contest or the fireworks that will be lighted on the evening March 17.
Village leaders agreed to close the two roads and provide police to keep the peace. They are letting the businesses pay for and run the show for the March 11 events and the fireworks on March 17.
The same is true in West Dundee for the Big Wheel races.
However, those same leaders hope spectators come into their hamlet, stay long enough to eat lunch and see what the village has to offer. Hopefully, those same people, and even more, will return in the fall for East and West Dundee's coordinated Heritage Fest in September, Dickens in Dundee festival in December and events in the summer.
It's all a matter of public exposure and remembering where the good times are, said Amanda Guttke, general manager of Emmett's.
With the hint of spring and yearning to enjoy the warm March breezes, people are anxious for outdoor fun.
"(St. Patrick's Day is) one of the busiest days of the year for us," she said. "We'll have from 1,500 to 3,000 people watch the Big Wheel races and about 500 of those people will come into the restaurant to eat lunch."
Some of those people, no doubt, will have already enjoyed a Kegs and Eggs breakfast special at Emmett's.
And those revelers can thank Emmett's managers for starting the St. Patrick's Day celebration. Until 15 years ago, March 17 passed with only a handful of restaurants offering corned beef and cabbage specials.
No parade. No fireworks. No nothing.
Then Emmett's started a small parade on the west side of the river when spectators followed a brew master holding a firkin, or a keg containing beer, to the restaurant. It received some attention, but not the notice it has today. More attention was given to the Big Wheel races, which the business started 10 years ago.
Then, three years before he died in 2009, Thom McNamee, the owner of Bandito Barney's Beach Club, started his parade in East Dundee. He wanted to show off his Irish roots and invited friends and patrons to join him.
After he died, McNamee's family and friends did not want his good works and legacy to go with him. They continued the parade and added the race. They also added the door contest.
All those activities, along with the fireworks, were crammed into one weekend.
Now we have a two-weekend party. The fireworks will be lighted at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 17, from the footbridge connecting East and West Dundee.
"The organizers felt if we could make two weekends out of it, why not?" McNamee said.
They also wanted to continue Thom's support of the FISH Food Pantry in Carpentersville and the environmental group, Friends of the Fox (River).
Money collected from registration of the 8:30 a.m. March 11 Kilted 5K will be donated to both groups.
Last year, organizers donated $4,000 to each organization, McNamee said.
To sign up for this year's race or to see a list of events, visit the parade's website at: dundeestpats.com.
Details about the Big Wheel races can be seen on the internet at emmettsbrewingco.com/bigwheelrace.
Celebrating St. Patrick's Day in Dundee
<b>Saturday, March 11</b>• 8:30 a.m.: Kilted 5K Race starts at 296 Williams Place in East Dundee. Registration begins at 7 a.m. All runners and walkers will receive a kilt.
• 9:15 a.m.: Pet parade starts at Dundee Township's Visitors' Center, North River Street in East Dundee.
• 11 a.m.: Thom McNamee Memorial St. Patrick's Day Parade starts at Rosie O'Hare's tavern on Water Street in East Dundee.
• 1 p.m.: Big Wheel Races begin at Washington and Fourth streets in West Dundee.
<b>Friday, March 17</b>7:30 p.m.: Fireworks display will start on the footbridge between East and West Dundee