Parade thrills on a sunny 2023 St. Patrick's Day in Butte
The energy was high in “the most Irish place in America,” with nearly a fourth of residents being of Irish descent, and people of all nationalities showing up to Friday's celebration in Butte.
Photo compilation for Flashback Friday
Hundreds of all ages lined Uptown streets to watch the parade, many whooping and hollering.
Some who showed up were regulars like Smokey Bear, Saint Patrick, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the St. Patrick and Immaculate Conception Parishes in Butte and Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher, along with a host of others.
2023 St. Patrick's Day parade marshal Jim McCarthy, longtime Butte volunteer and founding member of Butte Historical Memorials, reacts to the crowd Friday in Uptown Butte.
Sisters Sue MacPherson and Sandi Seccomb, known by some as “the sin sisters,” drove the parade’s grand marshal, Jim McCarthy in MacPherson’s decked-out, green VW bug. The vehicle was brimming with both Butte and Irish spirit, all the way down to its license plate, which read “Butte America, The Mining City.”
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Although MacPherson has driven two parade grand marshals before this, McCarthy is the only one to get the honor of being driven in the green bug.
“It’s special, just for Jim,” MacPherson said. MacPherson and her sisters were students of McCarthy’s in his adult education class, and she was happy he asked her to drive him.
McCarthy said he was excited to be driven in the parade by the sin sisters, and that he was incredibly honored to be chosen as the parade's grand marshal.
“I’ve helped with a lot of parades,” McCarthy said. “Usually, I clean up after them.” He added that while he wasn’t exactly sure why he was chosen instead of many other deserving people, he would do his best to make Butte proud. He even wore a dark green sweater he got on a trip to Ireland, where his grandparents are from.
The Pipes and Drums Band of The Edmonton Police Service came back to Butte after four years away, and played in the parade.
The Edmonton Police Service Pipes and Drums Band march in the 2023 Butte St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Although the day is a celebratory one, the Edmonton officers are grieving after two of their colleagues were killed responding to a domestic disturbance in Edmonton late Wednesday night.
Father Patrick Beretta of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Butte said he held mass at 9 a.m. that morning that was “very, very well attended.”
“And we like to start the day like this,” he said. “It's a day of celebration. But it's also a day with deep spiritual meaning for the Irish, and I explained what St. Patrick taught us as kind of universal relevance and made an enormous contribution to spirituality in general.”
An Irish wolfhound sports a green bandanna on the St. Paddy's Day parade route.
He also said he saw a lot of smiles and visitors at the parade.
“I see the soul of Butte at its best,” Beretta said. “It's vibrant. It's loving. It's family oriented, and it's incredibly joyful. So I'm really, really proud of this community coming together welcoming our visitors and celebrating St. Patrick's Day.”
Parade attendees may have also spotted a float adorned with 4-foot tall penguins, courtesy of the Whitehall Winter Carnival.
Geoff and Lisa Calloway, who were queen and king on the carnival’s float in the St. Paddy’s Day parade last year, said they came back this year to help with the float because they had such a great experience last year.
“We came back because we were so looking forward to it,” Lisa said.
Gallagher said the crowd and general atmosphere of the parade was “energetic and fun,” and noted how good it was to be outside after a winter full of chilling, sub-zero temperatures.
Deby and George Pearman hold their Irish wolfhounds Anie and Saoirse at the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Butte.
“The parade and the day itself, just the energy around St. Patrick's Day and what it means to the community, I would say it's equal to the folk festival and An Ri Ra,” he said. “You know, those are the events that really stand out in our community. And for a spring festival parade, it means so much to the community, because people are excited about getting back outside again.”
Along with the seasoned parade participants and observers were a few newcomers.
A leprechaun tosses out chocolate gold coins to the parade-goers on St. Patrick's Day in Butte.
One newcomer who basked in the limelight despite being on the sidelines was the Montana Grinch, whose heart grew just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.
Just having woke from hibernation this year, this was his first time at the Butte St. Patrick’s Day parade, although he’s been at a couple of parades in Philipsburg this year, too.
Tyler Miller, who just wrapped up his third year as assistant men’s basketball coach at Montana Technological University, said he’s excited for his first St. Patrick’s Day in Butte.
People march with Pride flags in the St. Patrick's Day parade Friday in Butte.
“What I’ve always heard about Butte is how much people come out and just all get together, and it’s one big giant party,” Miller said.
After the parade, Miller said he’ll probably go out with some friend and bar hop, and also has plans to mix in some March Madness viewing when he can during the day’s festivities.
Basin resident Preston Eckman, 37, said he’s been coming to Butte’s St. Paddy’s Day parade since he was a teen, and has watched the parade dressed as a leprechaun for the last ten years. However, this year, he walked in the parade in his green outfit, with his hair spiked in a Mohawk.
The Montana Technological University Orediggers show off their trophies from a historic basketball season during the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Butte.
“It’s awesome,” Eckman said of getting to be in the parade, “I’m so excited.”
Darrangho Caoimh from Cork, Ireland, who teachers Gaelic at the University of Montana in Missoula, said that in addition to the parade, he was at the Helsinki Bar Thursday night for St. Urho’s crowning.
Each year those with Finnish ancestry gather in Butte, Montana, on March 16 to crown St. Urho in honor of the fictional saint of Finland who drove out the grasshoppers. The celebration ties in with the annual St. Patrick's Day festivities in the Mining City - a melting pot of culture with decedents of many different nations.
“And it was great fun,” he said. “We went to a few bars after that and there was just a wonderful atmosphere in town.”
When asked what the best way was to enjoy St. Paddy’s Day, he said this:
“Just be open of spirit, and, you know, roll with the day, chat with everyone. And have fun. I think fun is the order of the day with St. Patrick's Day. Just have a good time and relax and enjoy the music and the fun and the dancing.”
A crowd gathers on the balcony of an Uptown Butte building on St. Patrick's Day in Butte.
Pat Ryan from the Butte America Foundation was at the helm of the parade for what he said was the first and last time, as regular organizer Matt Boyle is expected to take over again next year.
All in all, Ryan said it was a good time.
“It’s a zoo,” he said. “But everyone is great and very flexible … it’s a great tradition and we’re happy to keep it going. It’s a team effort.”
The group from the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives holds signs honoring James McCarthy, the 2023 grand marshal of the Butte St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Parade-goers wait for the 2023 St. Patrick's Day Parade to begin on March 17 in Butte.
Jayden Erbacher, 13, Bianca DeNeut, 11, and Haley Erbacher, 12, are all dressed up for the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Butte.
A float from Whitefish makes its way along the St. Patrick's Day Parade route in Butte.
Irish dancers perform in the 2023 St. Patrick's Day Parade in Butte.
The Edmonton Police Service Pipes and Drums Band march in the 2023 Butte St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Sarah Armstrong is dressed in green from head to toe for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in Butte.
Irish dancers prepare to perform in the 2023 St. Patrick's Day Parade in Butte.
Bagpipers with the Anaconda AOH Pipes & Drums make their way through the Butte St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Celebrating St. Urho's Day in Butte, America
Colton Kingston holds the grasshopper on a staff outside of the Helsinki Bar after being crowned the 2023 St. Urho for Butte's annual St. Urho celebration of a fictional saint from Finland.
Shelby Whelan wears a grasshopper hat as she mingles with friends and family outside of the Helsinki Bar on March 16 on St. Urho's Day in Butte.
Colton Kingston is photographed with his family at the Helsinki Bar after being crowned the 2023 St. Urho for Butte's annual St. Urho celebration, which recognizes a fictional Finnish saint on March 16.
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