Irish Skies Smile for St. Pat’s Parade

With the emerald hills overlooking downtown the only evidence of recent rains, a sun-drenched crowd of 8,000 people awash in green gathered to watch the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade Saturday.

“This is California Irish weather,” said a delighted Brian Brennan, a Galway native and chairman of the Irish festival. The crowd “definitely looked deeper on the sidewalk than I’ve ever seen it--four or five deep as opposed to two or three--and we’ve got double the attendance at the festival.”

About 3,000 people attended the festival after the parade in Mission Park, organizers said. Led by Grand Marshal George Kennedy, the film star and 11-year county resident, the 83 parade entries took about two hours to traverse the length of Main Street.

“You don’t have to be purebred anything to enjoy a St. Paddy’s Day parade,” Kennedy said, shortly before climbing into a bright red convertible.

The parade boasted the usual eclectic mix of entries, ranging from a green-dyed poodle with shamrocks shorn into its fur to massive powerboats. In the Irish tradition of mixing politics with pleasure--and with Election Day fast approaching--there were political pitches aplenty. The largest was a 100-person contingent from the Shamrock Mobile Homeowners Assn. urging a no vote on Proposition 199, the mobile-home rent-control initiative.

The crowd reserved perhaps its biggest ovation for the victorious Ventura College men’s and women’s basketball teams. It’s the first time a community college has won both titles in the same year.

Still, the luck of the Irish had nothing to do with the victories, men’s team coach Virgil Watson said.

“You’ve got to be lucky and good. But the harder you work, the luckier you get,” he said.

The festive crowd was snapping up $2 cellophane hats and $1 green flags sporting the Gaelic phrase “Erin Go Bragh,” said vendor Mike Moore, 50, of Long Beach. Moore confessed that he had no clue what the phrase means.

“It means something Irish, I hope,” he said. “I figure anyone who buys it already knows.”

Michael White, 32, a Newbury Park resident and native of County Clare who was watching the parade in a green Republic of Ireland rugby shirt, supplied his translation in a thick Irish brogue: “Good old Ireland.”

The genuine Irish folks scattered among the crowd expressed bemusement with Americans’ unbridled enthusiasm for St. Patrick’s Day.

“It’s more celebrated here,” said County Kerry resident Shane Dowling, 21, spending a day of his monthlong Southern California vacation shivering under the shade at Mission Park, as he helped out at a relative’s booth. “More people wear green and more people dress up.”

Guilty as charged, laughed K. C. McKinley of Ventura, adorned with outlandishly large green glasses and a green top hat.

“Irish Americans have always been more proud of their heritage than the Irish,” she said.

White expressed surprise at the choice of cuisine, especially the supposedly traditional meal of corned beef and cabbage.

“They don’t eat corned beef and cabbage in Ireland, they eat bacon [ham] and cabbage,” he explained.

Although most people at the parade and festival were locals, Ventura’s tourism bureau received inquiries about the event from many Los Angeles-area residents, said Executive Director Bill Clawson.

Indeed, Chris Esposto, 47, of South Pasadena and friend Lori Anderson, 39, of Sierra Madre savored heaping bowls of Irish lamb stew at Mission Park.

“It’s nice to get away from all the traffic and the smog,” Esposto said. “[And] the downtown’s looking better.”

The Irish festival continues today from noon to 4 p.m. at Harbor Village with Irish music, dancing and other activities.

If Saturday’s crowds are an indication, a bumper turnout is likely on St. Patrick’s Day proper.

“There’s two kinds of people in America,” White said. “Those who are Irish and those who want to be Irish.”

FYI

“Ireland by the Sea” will take place at Ventura Harbor Village from noon to 4 p.m. today, featuring music, dancing, a leprechaun treasure hunt, pony rides, a petting zoo and face painting. At 1:30, a leprechaun look-a-like contest for the best Irish-spirited costume will be held.