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The Canoga Park St. Patrick’s Day Community March and Celebration will be held Saturday, with organizers asking that everyone who comes marches.
Would-be participants are asked to arrive at the Madrid Theatre, 21622 Sherman Way, at 11 a.m., with the march beginning at 11:30 a.m., according to Mary Paterson, the executive director of the Canoga Park Improvement Association, which organizes the march.
The march, which includes pipers, will proceed east on the sidewalk on the south side of Sherman Way to Canoga Avenue, then heads west to the farmers market on Owensmouth Avenue, just north of Sherman Way, where Owen Dara will take to the stage to sing Irish songs, Paterson said. There will also be Irish dancers, pipers, jugglers and mariachis singing “When Irish Eyes are Smiling,” Paterson said.
The march began in 2003 because association board member Don Sanelli “thought it would be nice to do a light-hearted event in our town to spread some good will and cheer” in the midst of tension leading up to the Iraq War, which would begin on March 20, 2003, Paterson told City News Service.
“Before we knew it we had a bagpiper, leprechauns, lots of merrymakers and even St. Patrick,” Paterson said.
The Los Angeles Kings will mark St. Patrick’s Day in two ways at Saturday’s game against the New Jersey Devils at Staples Center. They will wear green jerseys during the pregame warmups and give all fans in attendance a bobblehead of left wing Tanner Pearson wearing a green jersey and a green hat.
The jerseys will be autographed and auctioned at lakings.com/auctions. Bids can also be made by texting the keyword KINGS to 52182. The auction will close at the end of the second intermission.
Proceeds will benefit the Kings Care Foundation, the team’s charity which promotes health, education and recreation projects.
The Los Angeles Dodgers will continue their St. Patrick’s Day tradition of wearing green jerseys and have the bases painted green for Saturday’s spring training game against the Chicago White Sox in Glendale, Arizona.
The Dodgers began wearing green hats and having bases painted green on St. Patrick’s Day in the early 1970s when they held spring training in Vero Beach, Florida. They first wore green jerseys in 2010, when they had moved spring training to Glendale, Arizona, according to team historian Mark Langill.
St. Patrick’s Day is the national holiday of Ireland, honoring one of the nation’s three patron saints. Legend credits St. Patrick with driving all the snakes from Ireland, although experts believe there never were any snakes in Ireland because it would have been impossible for them to get there.
His true legacy was being among the earliest missionaries traveling abroad to spread the Christian faith, inspiring later missionaries.
“St. Patrick’s Day is a time for us to honor and build upon the lasting bonds of our friendship between the United States and Ireland, bonds forged through a very common heritage, shared values, and a united vision for a peaceful and prosperous future,” President Donald Trump said Thursday at The Friends of Ireland Luncheon at the Capitol.
—City News Service
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