No parade, but St. Charles still has St. Patrick's Day events scheduled Saturday
After pivoting for Halloween and the holidays during the COVID-19 pandemic, the St. Charles Business Alliance is hoping for similar success with its St. Patrick's Day celebration on Saturday.
The annual parade is canceled for a second straight year because of gathering restrictions, but — unlike last year when all the St. Patrick's Day events were canceled — organizers had time this year to create different ways for people to celebrate safely throughout downtown St. Charles.
“A year ago, on the Wednesday before the parade, that's when everything kind of went down,” said business alliance events manager Amy Curione. “We were all ready, but we canceled everything. It really happened fast.
“We're just really happy that we can continue this year in some way,” she said.
As with other recent alliance events, this year's St. Patrick's Day celebration focuses on support for local businesses. There will be a Treasure Hunt on Saturday, sponsored by McGrath Honda, where families can look for leprechauns at St. Charles businesses and enter to win one of three Pot of Gold prizes, including a grand prize of a $200 gift certificate from McGrath Honda and $150 vouchers usable at local businesses.
La Mesa will be offering corned beef tacos, Smallcakes Cupcakery will have St. Patrick's Day-themed treats and, of course, McNally's Irish Pub is serving traditional Irish fare. All the local specials can be found at the alliance's website, stcalliance.org.
Bagpipers from the Chicago Highlanders will roam around downtown from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, and a “Lucky Photo Station” will be set up at the corner of Riverside and Illinois avenues from Friday through next Wednesday.
“We wanted to incorporate music into our festivities,” Curione said. “We feel it's really important. They'll be performing in front of a bunch of businesses, one group on the east side of the Fox River and one group on the west side.”
The Thom McNamee Memorial Dundee St. Patrick's Day Parade is also pivoting to a virtual pet parade that goes through the end of March. People interested in submitting pet pictures for the contest can tag #DUbliNDEEPets on social media or email photos to Dundeestpats@gmail.com.