ST. LOUIS — Shamrocks are cropping up in St. Louis’ Dogtown neighborhood. Regardless of the weather, they always appear this time of year right before St. Patrick’s Day!
It’s an annual tradition in the weeks before the Dogtown St. Patrick’s Day Parade. March 17 is on a Sunday this year, and members of the Dogtown shamrock painting crew are hard at work.
“The people love it,” said Dan McDermott. “The business people get to work in the morning and they see shamrocks on the sidewalk out front. They know what's coming, right around the corner. It’s Saint Patrick's time!”
The Dogtown crew will paint as many as 250 shamrocks between now and St. Patrick’s Day. Crew member John Hornecker utilized a wooden stencil that read “40th anniversary.”
“This goes over the top of the shamrock,” said Hornecker. “After they dry, we’ll throw this on here, and that will mark the 40th anniversary of the Dogtown parade.”
James McDermott said the shamrock painting started in 2000.
“We started doing it and it's evolved into this new version, the shamrock inside the shamrock,” he said. “We call that the official Dogtown shamrock.”
The Dogtown St. Patrick’s Day Parade gets underway Sunday, March 17, at 11 a.m. 5 On Your Side will be streaming the event live on 5+. The Irish festival begins at 9 a.m. at the intersection of Tamm and Clayton avenues.
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