2nd Week of the Angels St.Patricks Day Contest

Source: goodreads.com via Chris on Pinterest

Short History of St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, the saint's religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast--on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.

How About Green Beer?

Source: myrecipes.com via Chris on Pinterest

Growth of St. Patrick's Day Celebrations

Over the next 35 years, Irish patriotism among American immigrants flourished, prompting the rise of so-called "Irish Aid" societies like the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick and the Hibernian Society. Each group would hold annual parades featuring bagpipes (which actually first became popular in the Scottish and British armies) and drums.

In 1848, several New York Irish Aid societies decided to unite their parades to form one official New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade. Today, that parade is the world 's oldest civilian parade and the largest in the United States, with over 150,000 participants. Each year, nearly 3 million people line the 1.5-mile parade route to watch the procession, which takes more than five hours. Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Savannah also celebrate the day with parades involving between 10,000 and 20,000 participants each.

Scottish or Irish hmm...

Source: Uploaded by user via Meritte on Pinterest

The Chicago River on St. Patrick's Day

As Irish immigrants spread out over the United States, other cities developed their own traditions. One of these is Chicago’s annual dyeing of the Chicago River green.  The practice started in 1962, when city pollution-control workers used dyes to trace illegal sewage discharges and realized that the green dye might provide a unique way to celebrate the holiday. That year, they released 100 pounds of green vegetable dye into the river--enough to keep it green for a week! Today, in order to minimize environmental damage, only 40 pounds of dye are used, and the river turns green for only several hours.

Although Chicago historians claim their city's idea for a river of green was original, some natives of Savannah, Georgia (whose St. Patrick's Day parade, the oldest in the nation, dates back to 1813) believe the idea originated in their town. They point out that, in 1961, a hotel restaurant manager named Tom Woolley convinced city officials to dye Savannah's river green. The experiment didn't exactly work as planned, and the water only took on a slight greenish hue. Savannah never attempted to dye its river again, but Woolley maintains (though others refute the claim) that he personally suggested the idea to Chicago's Mayor Richard J. Daley.

This was the closest I could get to a green river. Well the countryside is green. It's not in Chicago...so what is an imagination for anyway?

Comment on any Rogue's Angels post, including goddessfish tours from January 1st to March 17, and you will be entered to win. 

Follow the Rogues Angels blog and you will be entered twice.

Rogue's Angels will have drawings through January, February, and March. Grand prizes to be awarded on Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day.

Prizes

After the drawings on February 15th we now have:

Gift Cards:  $20 Starbucks GC

Name in next anthology (pending, I'm pulling for May Day) 

Bookmarks: to everyone who leaves a comment

Downloads of past anthologies (6): Star Crossed, Meadows, St. Batzy & the Time Machine