The city of Savannah moved to curb the pre-dawn squabbles in the squares that marked last year’s parade by stationing half-a-dozen law enforcement officers in the more popular squares during the wee hours of the morning.
The police presence proved far from foolproof, however.
The first square on the route, Calhoun, saw a stampede at 5:58 a.m. when one overeager homesteader yelled “GO!” two minutes before 6 a.m.
Hundreds of others hoping for a spot in the large, open square bull-rushed the greenspace.
Several tossed their tents, bags and coolers over the barricades that marked the parade route around the east side of the square.
One projectile reportedly caught somebody in the face and drew blood, although the cut was not deep enough to require medical attention.
“The system, as it is now, is not a good one,” said one of the pre-dawn spot claimers. “Somebody is really going to get hurt eventually.”
Just not fair
Cooper and Patrick Mahoney planned to ride in style through the parade.
But Cooper was a little upset. His brother was getting all the attention.
Everyone kept wishing them a Happy St. Patrick’s Day, and he wanted to know when they would celebrate St. Cooper’s Day.
Mario revealed
Timothy “TJ” Riley wore a Mario mascot costume as part of the Lanier County High School marching band.
The band’s theme this year is video games, he said, including Tetris, Halo, Mortal Kombat “and Mario of course.” Even at 9 a.m. the costume was hot, and Riley pulled the head off for a little air.
With a camera pointed at him, he realized Mario’s identity was revealed.
“Someone tell the world Mario is black,” he joked.
Born to be in Savannah
Henry the “bassador” — that’s part Bassett hound and part Labrador — looked dapper in a green plaid coat and tri-color beads in Calhoun Square. A rescue dog from Rincon, he likes crowds, and he likes to dress up, said his human companion, Holly Kincaid.
“He wears a bowtie every day, and in summer, he wears seersucker,” she said. “I call him the Wal-Mart greeter of downtown.”
The only sticking point of having Henry at the parade was his love of food and drink. Kincaid looked down at one point to find him finishing off an untended bloody Mary.
“He really was born to be in Savannah,” she said.
Go big or go home
Melanie Headley, 22, is a native Savannahian who made it to her first St. Patrick’s Day parade Saturday.
Making up for lost time, her outfit would’ve made a Shriner blush.
Headley discovered the sequined green bikini top and green tutu at Civvies on Broughton and knew she had to wear them to the parade.
“It’s St. Pat’s in Savannah,” said Headley, a pastry chef at Sapphire Grill. “You have to go big or go home.”
What’s a little nine-hour drive when there’s a St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Savannah?
Trey Willoughby drove nine hours Thursday night from Lexington, Ky., so he could make it to his first Savannah St. Patrick’s Day, and the junior at the University of Kentucky hasn’t been disappointed by the experience.
“It’s been great,” he said. “We’ve been staying out on Tybee Island and last night we hit the bars. Today I even had a cop pour my beer into a cup for me. They don’t do that back at U.K.”
Of course, he had another reason to make the drive. His girlfriend, Jenna Alderman, is from Savannah.
Moments later, Alderman walked up with a friend, Tori Degroodt, and they looked bemused as he continued his news conference, especially when he said this would be the first time he appeared in the newspaper when it wasn’t the police log.
People watchers
Denver and Alberta Minor have been married 14 years and love Savannah’s festival so much, they make the four-hour drive each year from the town of Matthews, N.C., outside of Charlotte.
Denver got into the holiday spirit by dying his hair and beard completely green mascot costumes.
“We love the East Bay Inn and the people,” Alberta said of Savannah. “Truthfully, we like River Street and to watch people. People-watching is fantastic.”
King of restrooms
David Sauers marched in the parade with a plunger as his scepter. He’s the founder of Royal Restrooms, which provides upscale portable toilets for events, including about 20 private parties along the parade route.
Saturday, Royal Restrooms also provided bathrooms for a charity “Pay for pee” on River Street benefiting the Frank Callen Boys & Girls Club.
Sauers’ daughters, C.C. and Stella, carried plungers, too, though he couldn’t remember whose idea it was.
“It’s just kind of evolved,” he said.
Spending of the green
We interrupt these vignettes for the commercial portion of coverage.
First up, Larry Slageman from Knoxville, Tenn., a grizzled 30-year veteran of peddling horns, trinkets and various other souvenirs at events that include the Super Bowl, Mardi Gras, Final Four basketball games and, in his own words, “anywhere there’s thousands of people.”
He rolled into town Thursday and will leave today. On Saturday, he stationed his cart near the intersection of Hull and Bull streets at the north end of Chippewa Square and seemed to be doing a brisk trade in horns, feather boas, beads, tam-o-shanters and cotton candy.
“It’s all right,” he growled. “It’s a day’s pay.”
So, what’s the day’s biggest seller? “Anything green,” he said. “Green equals green.”
Next up are Jenny Mullins of Brooklet and Sheryl Floyd of Bloomingdale, representing Girl Scout Troop 30519 in Pooler. The two had staked out a spot on Bull Street to sell — what else? — Girl Scout cookies. By noon, they had sold about 40 cases (or 480 boxes) out of their shopping cart and were shooting for 80 cases by day’s end.
“We’re one of six troop leaders the council is allowing to sell cookies on the parade route,” Mullins said.
When told one of the other six had set up shop not far away, Floyd’s eyes narrowed. “I know,” she said. “I saw them.”
She did not seem pleased.
The hostess with the most-est
Abbi Sparks, 21, of Savannah is not exactly shy.
“Are you interviewing people?” she asked the man with the notebook. The man said he was.
“Then interview me,” she said. “I have red hair.”
The man thought that was as good a reason as any.
So Sparks, an exercise science major at Georgia College, told her tale. She has been coming to the Savannah St. Patrick’s Day celebration since she was an infant.
“My parents used to take us every year,” she said. “Now we’re at the point when they drop us off and then pick us up. That way no one drives home drunk.”
Standing near the south border of Chippewa Square, Sparks was surrounded by friends. Many friends. But not as many as last year.
“Last year I had 22 people staying with me for the weekend,” she said. “This year I limited it to 12.”
