The 411 on the Wearin’ of the Green Parade

Photo by Tim Mueller

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What you need to know for parade day:

• Starts at 10 a.m. March 14 at the intersection of Hundred Oaks Avenue and South Acadian Thruway. The route goes down Hundred Oaks, turns right on Eugene Street, then left on Terrace Avenue before taking a final left on Perkins Road. The parade continues down the Perkins Road overpass and ends at the intersection of Stanford Avenue and Perkins Road.

• The parade lasts about two to three hours.

• CATS will run a Shamrock Shuttle 7 a.m.-3 p.m. during the festivities. The two shuttles will run from the LSU AgCenter lot to the Catholic Life Center on South Acadian Thruway and from the Florida Street/I-110 underpass to City Park. One-day passes will be on sale for $4.

• Started by Pat and Mabyn Shingleton, the first Wearin’ of the Green parade went from the City Park Golf Course to Zee Zee Gardens in 1986. paradegroup.com

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The Parade Piper

Martin Bergen has been a musician all his life, playing bass and singing in bands around town. But it was the sound of the bagpipes that always intrigued him.

“It’s sometimes haunting, sometimes encouraging,” he says.

Bergen is the music director and pipe major for the Celtic Society of Louisiana’s band—Na Cait Dubh (“The Black Cats”), one of the three groups performing at the 30th annual Wearin’ of the Green Parade. The three-mile parade rolls throughout the Garden District in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday, March 14.

Also playing are the Caledonian Pipes and Drums, the eldest of the groups that plays more than 100 shows a year under the director of pipe major Stan Masinter. There’s also the Baton Rouge Pipe and Drums Corps, a couples-based group that started in 2008 that is the state fire marshal’s honor guard.

Bergen’s group is a smaller one that marches wearing green derbies and white tails like leprechauns.

Like many area pipers, Bergen still considers himself amateur.

“I’ve got people I’ve taught how to play who are better than me,” he says. “I compare it to blowing up a beach ball. You have to give your brain enough oxygen so you don’t get dizzy.”

By the end of the parade, Bergen says they’ll all be beat, but it’s worth it.

“When you’re walking underneath the overpass, the noise … the hollering … that’s impressive,” he says. “It’s a hoot.”

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What you’re doing AFTER the parade:

St. Patrick’s Day festivities begin and in at Uncle Earl’s. “We open at 6 a.m.,” co-owner Brian Ott says. More fun starts after the Wearin’ of the Green parade, when a large section of the Acadian Perkins Plaza Shopping Center on Perkins Road will be blocked off for Uncle Earl’s post-parade party. This year’s festivities include jambalaya, hot dogs and hamburgers as well as musical performances from The Molly Ringwalds and Electro Rouge. This party is a big deal, too. Last year’s event saw upward of 4,000 attendees, Ott says, and the bar is expecting more this year.

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In the holiday spirit: The Irish Mule

Green beer is messy. Just ask the local bars like Chelsea’s, Uncle Earl’s and The Londoner that aren’t making it this year. Sure, you might be able to drink it all day, but the St. Patrick’s Day festivities deserve a drink that’s a step above green dye and PBR. That’s where the easy-to-make Irish Mule comes in. Mix half an ounce of lemon juice with one and a half ounces of Jameson (or Irish Whiskey), pour over ice, then top it with ginger beer.

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