St. Patrick’s Day Parade returns to Charles City

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

It was a green weekend in Charles City as the community got its Irish on for the return of the “First Ever” St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday, March 15.

“It was really cold and windy, but I think there was a lot of excitement to participate in it,” said Meg Rodriguez, one of the parade organizers.

Rodriguez is the daughter of the late John Morris, one of the event’s founders, who started the parade in the early ’90s and was a key organizer through its last showing in 2019.

The parade has been on hiatus since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Rodriguez, who now lives in Des Moines, welcomed the idea of bringing the tradition back to the community following her father’s passing last year.

“For me, personally, it was a chance to honor my dad and my mom,” said Rodriguez.

Organizing the return of the parade with Tonya Nosbisch, a fellow former Miss Shamrock, the pair worked on establishing the route and finding groups to participate in the relaunch of the “25th First Ever St. Patrick’s Day Parade,” which may or may not be an accurate count for the event.

Along with crowning a new Miss Shamrock, Amanda McCarty, and a new Little Miss Shamrock, Reese Patrie, the parade welcomed several participants eager to bring back the Charles City tradition.

Mayor Dean Andrews, the Elks Club, the Charles City/Nashua-Plainsfield Trapshooting team, and more lined up on the cold Saturday morning for a march around downtown.

In spite of the brutal winds, people lined the sidewalks of Main Street, both in and out of their cars, to enjoy the kilts and candy.

“We felt like it was very successful,” said Rodriguez. “Even though it was so cold and we went really fast, we felt like it was a really good sense of community.”

A special highlight of the parade was the participation of the Drouthy Duck Pipe Band, whose members played their bagpipes through the street as they marched.

The band, of which John Morris was also a founder, drew in members from as far as Green Bay, eager to lead the return of the parade.

“It was amazing,” said Rodriguez. “Everybody seemed to be in really great spirits.”

Starting and ending at Hot Shots Billiards, the bagpipe band made a short St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl, performing at The Pub on the Cedar and Tellurian Brewing to conclude the event.

With the parade successfully relaunched, Rodriguez is looking forward to continuing the tradition with another “first ever” parade next year.