Bottom of the News… Friday, March 14, 2008

Top of the mornin' to ya my fellow Rotarians… Yes, it is the weekend eve of the most beloved holidays and that is St. Patrick’s day, which is the coming Monday.

But first, we have a special recognition for Daryl Spivey. Last week, Daryl volunteered for yours truly during my absence, to report the bottom of the news. I was told it was a special moment in time! And some wondered what qualified Daryl to be our reporter and I want you all to know that our crack Rotary Research Team did their due diligence on Daryl because we needed to make sure he had proper credentials and qualifications.

After considerable searching, it came down to two things… Daryl is trained as a FBI hostage negotiator and he has expertise as a family issues mediator. Hey, we figured if he can deal with those two situations then you can present to this group! As one Daybreaker emailed me… “Daryl is a great guy… so why did you do that to him!?” Hey, I asked and he volunteered!

So, Daryl, we have a token of appreciation that reads as follows… "Presented to Daryl Spivey; you are commended for the courage required to stand before your peers in the reporting of the bottom of the news. The Rotary News Team herby bestows upon you the title of "Honorary Rotary Reporter" to thank you for your service above self. (gave certificate to Daryl).

Okay, here are a few things of note regarding St. Patrick’s Day…

It started as a Christian and Catholic holiday in honor of St. Patrick (who was known for driving all the snakes off of the island of Ireland AND later in his life he introduced Christianity to the Irish around 400 AD. It is believed that March 17th is the date of St. Patrick’s death. Today, St. Patrick’s Day is one of the biggest celebrated holidays around the world. As the sign I saw last year in the Guinness Brewery says in Dublin… “Everyone is Irish on March 17th.”

Saint Patrick's Day celebrations in the U.S. were stated by Irish immigrants with the first parade in Boston, MA 1737, New York City, 1756 and Savannah, GA 1813, which last year boasted the largest US attendance at 750,000 people.

As a church holiday it has been celebrated in Ireland since the 1700’s. Last year Dublin’s 5-day festival had over a half a million people attending; Ireland’s total population is just over 4 million, but their festival only started in 1996 as an official Ireland government campaign using the holiday to showcase Ireland’s culture and to spur economic development. Ireland now is encouraging people of Irish decent to return to their homeland during the month on March annually.

The shortest St Patrick's Day parade in the world takes place between two pubs in a tiny Irish village. In the town of Dripsey, County Cork (on SW coast), their parade only runs 100 yards from the Weigh Inn to the Lee Valley Inn. The Postmaster Dermot O`Leary dresses up as St Patrick and they have 30 groups in the parade.

In the US… Chicago dyes its river green, Indianapolis dyes its main canal green and Savannah dyes its downtown city fountains green. At the University of Missouri Rolla Alumni paint 12 city blocks kelly green with mops before their annual parade.

Although Saint Patrick's Day has the color green as its theme, one little known fact is that blue was once the color associated with this day.

Corned beef and cabbage is the most common meal eaten in the US for St. Patrick's Day, even though historically, corned beef and cabbage is an American (rather than a traditionally Irish) meal.

And finally, if you drive on St. Patrick's Day you are 20% more likely to be killed or injured in an alcohol-related crash than on other days. So, be careful this coming Monday and remember to wear green if you don’t like to be pinched!

And there you have it, our Irish Bottom of the News! A top O the morning to ya… on this Friday, March 14, 2008. ###