Durty St. Pat's Parade Contest Winners Announced
Despite the chilly temperatures, thousands descended upon downtown Palatine Saturday, March 11 to toast St. Patrick and enjoy a day of Irish celebrations, brought to the greater community by Durty Nellie's, in partnership with Vicarious Multimedia.
This festive day included all things Irish and started out with a Traditional Irish Breakfast at Durty Nellie's that served up Irish rashers and bangers, eggs, baked beans, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, Irish soda bread and black pudding, to a few hundred patrons. The Durty St. Pat's Parade stepped off at 11 a.m. at Wood and Oak streets and headed west before ending in front of Durty Nellie's at Wood and Smith streets - where the After Party took place, complete with Irish food and fare, music, dancers and much merriment.
The Parade had more than 40 entries, and below are the category winners:
Most Irish: Hogan Irish Dance Academy and Trinity Irish Dancers, two Irish dance schools, who brought beautiful Irish dancing to parade spectators.
Most Fun: Palatine Beer Club & Families, a group of beer aficionados, whose "Lawn Chair Drill Team"performed to their classic song, the "Lawn Chair Samba."
Most Creative: Vito & Dollenmaier Law, which specializes in personal injury law, depicted a car accident on a flatbed truck.
Classiest: Rocky Top Mountain Getaway, a cottage rental business in Pigeon Forge, Tennesee, drove a Model A in the parade.
Most Helpful: New Palatine-based nonprofit, Clean Up Give Back Palatine, volunteered to clean up the entire parade route, which they began immediately once the parade ended.
Best Dressed: Sean Montgomery of State Farm strongly resembled an oversized leprechaun while marching in the parade.
"I want to thank the community for their support and for celebrating with us, in addition to presenting sponsor, Erik Johansson with Bay Equity, Traditional Irish Breakfast sponsors Sue Gould Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Starck Real Estate and A Closer Bond, and 4-Leaf Clover sponsor Conscious Cup Coffee Roasters - located right near us in downtown Palatine at the train station," said Durty Nellie's Owner Jimmy Dolezal. "We always look forward to providing this opportunity for the community to gather together as we all become Irish for the day and look towards spring!"
On St. Patrick's Day, Friday, March 17, Durty Nellie's will continue the celebrations with Irish dishes, music and dancing, and more shenanigans beginning at 12:30 p.m. Visit durtynellies.com for more information.