10,000 Cast Irish Eyes on Parade

Longhaired parade veteran Gypsy Boots, 79, showed up wearing sandals and green socks, ringing a cowbell and shaking a tambourine. High school marching bands played lively Irish tunes. And the co-chairman of the event tripped and fell as he tried to take a picture of two women clad in skimpy bikinis aboard a float.

So it went Saturday at the second annual County Ventura St. Patrick’s Day Parade, set under a clear blue sky in Old Town Ventura. About 10,000 people attended the one-hour event.

“Hey, everyone needs a parade,” said Doug Lipton, dodging customers who were raiding a stack of green hats at the store he manages on Main Street. “It gives us something lively in these times of malathion and the Middle East. It’s a chance for people to get together and have fun.”

Some spectators lounged in the sun, enjoying a cool ocean breeze. One woman, clutching a bag of fresh lettuce she had purchased at a nearby market, relaxed on a folding chair. A few children darted through the crowd, pinching spectators who were not wearing green.

The crowd hooted and hollered for many of the 100 floats in the parade. But the biggest cheers went to a stuffed, dyed-green pig carried by Grand Marshal Jim Monahan.

Several days ago, word quickly spread through the county that Monahan was planning on carrying a real pig covered with green food coloring, as pigs are in parades in Ireland. But animal-rights activists said “blarney” and threatened to picket the event.

“So we conceded” and found a fake pig to use instead, said Monahan, a Ventura councilman and former mayor.

But the event was not without colored animals.

Linda McWade attended with her husband, two daughters and their green mutt, Doggie Dog. She said the family had used green hair spray to color the animal, just for the occasion.

“We were a little apprehensive to spray the dog,” the Simi Valley woman said. “But he needed a bath anyway.”

Some people said they viewed the parade as a chance to join residents from the east and west sides of the county. Last year it was just a “mini-parade” with 20 floats. But this year it was expanded, and organizers were turning away people who wanted to participate.

Nan Drake, a former Ventura councilwoman who is a member of the parade committee, predicted that the parade’s popularity will continue to grow.

“This is a countywide parade,” Drake said. “It brought people from all over together.”

Mike Tallman said he drove from Ojai with his daughter, Amy, 10, and her friend, Maren Briggs, 11, to watch the event.

“I enjoy watching the spectators as much as I do the parade itself,” Tallman said.

And a few people on the sidelines provided an interesting show.

Parade Co-chairman Arnold Hubbard said he was running to get a picture of two women in bathing suits who were lounging on a float when he “tripped and fell in front of everyone.”

“I skinned my knees up and got embarrassed,” Hubbard said. “But I got the picture.”

As often occurs at such events in Southern California, Boots was also part of the spectacle. “I’ve been in 100 parades,” the colorful cheerleader said. “People love me, and I love to make them happy.”

“I can remember Gypsy Boots from Hollywood in the ‘60s” marveled Doug Lipton.

Boots, who now lives in Camarillo, simply said: “Hollywood’s loss is Ventura’s gain.”