Downtown and in Hollywood : Irish Get Double Dose of St. Pat’s Parading

Despite cloudy skies and cool temperatures, the 25 drill team members were panting by the time they pawed their way along Spring Street to City Hall during the St. Patrick’s Day parade through downtown Los Angeles. Their tongues were hanging out, but their natty green bandannas were still in place around their necks and their tails were still wagging.

Two-year-old Marquis, one of the 25 dogs who make up the Irish Setter Drill Team was hungry. Alicia Fernandez, his owner, explained, “He didn’t have breakfast because he gets so excited that he can’t eat before he performs.”

Not to be outdone, another parade across town in Hollywood featured a Golden retriever named Bailey who pranced his way along Hollywood Boulevard with the Irish Music Festival group. Until 1984, Los Angeles (which, according to census figures, has 60,000 Irish descendants) had no St. Patrick’s Day parade. That year, Leonard Ashmore, a photographer, and Marshall Wright, a retired hotel executive, organized the downtown parade.

But infighting soon developed among various Irish-American factions and with merchants, resulting in two parades last year.

So, Saturday, with the bickering still going on, parade lovers had to make a choice--downtown Los Angeles or Hollywood.

The Hollywood parade lined up the most official support and money--the backing of 16 Irish organizations and $10,000 from the City Council. The downtown group, sponsored mainly by merchants, received $2,500 from the city.

Founding chairman of the Hollywood parade is former City Councilman Art Snyder, who said he is the great-grandson of an Irish Republican Army rebel hanged by the British. The downtown grand marshal was Councilman Gilbert W. Lindsay, who noted that the parade theme is “everybody is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.”

Police estimated that 5,000 attended the downtown parade and nearly 10,000 showed up in Hollywood. Traffic around Spring Street downtown and around Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood was badly congested through the afternoon, officers said.

Those who did attend the events were treated to cheerleaders, majorettes, a Marine Band, the Pearl Harbor Survivors Assn., an Irish vampire, clowns wearing Reeboks and chartreuse high heels, Shrine Temple mini-cars, the Clan MacColin and an assortment of celebrities and politicians donned in Irish smiles and every imaginable shade of green.

James and Sandra Pickens and their two children accidentally stumbled on the downtown parade while looking for the Children’s Museum. “They sure didn’t advertise this, did they?” Pickens said.

In Hollywood, Frank and Eileen Stuart, who live in Orange County, said they were pleasantly surprised. “We came to spend the day in Los Angeles. We don’t like crowds so this is great,” he said, pointing to nearly empty sidewalks nearby.

Kelly O’Brien, president of the Hollywood parade, insisted that the Hollywood party is the “official community parade.”

However, organizers of the downtown parade noted that while their own event was an entirely volunteer effort, the Hollywood event had paid $5,000 to have a parade production company orchestrate the affair. “Ours is more sincere and fun,” said Shevaun O’Sullivan, a member of the downtown executive committee.

But both groups agreed that if they joined forces the results would be bigger and better.

“I guess it might happen eventually, “ O’Brien said.

’ ‘Actually it is silly to have two parades,” O’Sullivan said.