St. Charles St. Patrick's Day parade a harbinger of spring

One of the first signs of spring is the annual St. Patrick's Day parade in downtown St. Charles.

Consider it spring at 3 p.m. Saturday.

This year, 112 entries will make the March 13 parade the largest ever. Besides leprechauns on minibikes, the parade will feature equestrian units, dancers, stilt walkers and authentic pipe bands. There also will be antique fire engines and cards, marching bands, a marching drill team and 50 marching canines.

As usual, there will be dozens of festively decorated floats, cars, trucks, wagons and people. Many local organizations, nonprofits and businesses will be represented.

Grand marshals for the parade will be baseball legends Randy Hundley of the Chicago Cubs and Billy Pierce from the White Sox. Also, St. Charles resident Terry Donahue from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League will be a marshal.

The parade route is along Main Street, stepping off at Sixth Street and proceeding east to Fourth Avenue.

The parade is produced by the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce and the St. Patrick's Parade Committee in cooperation with the city and the St. Charles Jaycees.

After the parade, from 4 to 5 p.m., the grand marshals will be at Onesti's Italian Steakhouse and Supper Club, 18 N. Fourth St., to sign autographs.

For more information on the parade, call Debbie Treutler at the chamber, (630) 584-8384 or visit stcharleschamber.com.