St. Patrick's Day

March 08, 2012

St. Patrick’s Day is Saturday, March 17th. What are YOU doing to celebrate? There are many events that take place to celebrate this fun holiday. You could participate in the Annual Westport St. Patrick’s Day Run on Saturday, March 10th at 10:00 a.m. Irishpalooza will be taking place Sunday, March 11th with fun events going on all day. The Kansas City St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be Saturday, March 17th at 11:00 a.m. Be sure to come see Liesl (one of our staff members from the Excelsior Springs Branch) with other employees from the MCPL system walking in the parade!

Where did St. Patrick’s Day come from? Well, it’s a story about a guy named Saint Patrick (of course). He was captured and sold into bondage in Ireland at the age of 16. While he was a slave there, he spent many hours in prayer. After 6 years, he escaped. However, he had visions or dreams that a man came from Ireland with letters, and he heard the voices of the Irish telling him to return. It became Saint Patrick’s mission for about thirty years to return to Ireland and spreading Christianity to others. Tradition says he died on March 17th.

Today it seems that we have strayed from the original intention of this holiday. Whether you enjoy celebrating by drinking green beer and partying or taking your kids to a parade, don’t forget the library has a few fun things available as well! We have a fun program called Leprechaun Magic on Saturday, March 17th at 2:30 p.m. Our website has a link to fun St. Patrick’s Day Crafts that your kids can do. We also have a St. Patty’s Day display here in our branch that has many books, CD’s, and more for your perusing!

Laura C.
Excelsior Springs Branch