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| Murphys Irish Day |
Celebrating its Celtic heritage, which dates back to the Gold Rush era, the town of Murphys each year stages one of the most popular events in the Mother Lode. This year’s Murphys Irish Day will be held Saturday, March 21. The day will begin with a pancake breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Congregational Church on the corner of Church and Algiers Streets...
Click to View Photo Album of over 170 Photos of Last Years Event and Full Parade Video Below
Presented by the Murphys Business Association, the Main St. festivities will start at 10 a.m. and continue until 5 p.m. There is no admission charge.
More than 100 vendors offering fine arts and crafts, home-baked delicacies, Irish design t-shirts, souvenirs and many tasty things to eat and drink will line the street.
Among the items available for purchase will be handmade jewelry, wood and metal art objects, pottery, glasswork, sculpture, paintings, photographic prints, clothing, and antiques.
Local churches and community organizations will have baked goods, including Irish soda bread and several kinds of cookies, ready to take home.
A wide variety of foods, from corned beef sandwiches and Mexican dishes to meatball sandwiches and Irish baked potatoes will be available when hunger sets in. There will be items to satisfy the sweet tooth such as kettlecorn and green cotton candy. Beverages on sale will include fresh lemonade, Irish coffee, beer and a variety of fine local wines.
There will be pony rides and face painting to entertain the young folk.
In addition, all the shops on Main St. will be open to be explored and appreciated.
Live Entertainment
Live entertainment with a decidedly Irish theme will be presented throughout the day on two stages and along Main Street. Bagpipe music will fill the air as performed by the White Hackle Pipe & Drums and the Irish Cultural Society and Ripon Police Band. The Tommyknocker Cloggers will set everyone’s feet a tapping. Scott Williams will play the dulcimer and Al Lehr will have his calliope sending forth a variety of melodies. Among the other performing groups will be Sequoia, Matt Cullen & Friends, Jim Bailey’s Plan B, and the Calaveras Community Band. And the Fourmost barbershop quartet will serenade as they stroll through town.
The men and women of the Royal Saint Gyles Renaissance Guild, a living history reenactment group that recreates the Royal Court of Mary, Queen of Scots, will be encamped in the Murphys Community Park and invite all to join in their activities and greet Her Majesty.
Parade
At 11 a.m., to the swirl of bagpipes, the Murphys Irish Day Parade will make its way down Main St. Helping to create a Celtic atmosphere will be The White Hackle Pipe Band, Saint Gyles Renaissance Guild, and The Irish Cultural Society of Stanislaus County. Providing music will be the Bret Harte High School, Avery Middle School, and Calaveras Community bands, strolling trumpeter Dr. Jay Grimstead, and the Fourmost barber shop quartet.
Paul Moeller, the video chronicler of all things Calaveras for more than twenty years, will be the Grand Marshal. Moeller’s work has been a mainstay of Calaveras Community Television, the public-access channel. The CCTV studio bears his name.
As the parade progresses down Main Street, Moeller will be in his traditional mode, attired in his familiar jacket and beret, headphones in place, standing behind his trusty tripod and camera. Only this time he will be riding in the back of a 1928 Model A Roadster Pickup owned by Adrian Nestor.
Young people of the area will be represented in the parade by members of the Brownies, Cub, Boy, and Girl Scouts, Murphys Preschool, Puzzle Pieces Playschool and St. Patrick’s Preschool, and the Michelson Extended Day program. Equestrian units will include the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Posse, and Horse and Barrel Vineyard Horseback Tours. Among the other animals taking part will be those from the Calaveras Humane Society, Sierra West Bernese Mountain Dog Club, and a miniature Brahma bull.
There will be some outstanding classic cars, antique fire engines, two WWII jeeps, a model steam engine, and a circus wagon complete with calliope. The Calaveras County Sheriff’s and Murphys Fire departments will be well represented.
Local organizations participating will include the Native Sons of the Golden West with their giant California flag, Ophir Bear Mountain Masonic Lodge, Relay for Life, Democratic Clubs of Calaveras County, and the Mark Twain St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation.
Announcers Dave Bowman and Jim Bailey will be at each end of the parade route to describe each entry as it passes.
Win a Trip to Ireland
The luck of the Irish will take on special meaning for one happy couple when they are transported from a gold rush town with Irish heritage to the fabled land of shamrocks and leprechauns as grand prize winners of the Win a Trip to Ireland raffle. The prize includes roundtrip airfare to Dublin or Shannon, a rental car, hotel stay on arrival, and five nights in a variety of bed and breakfast locations sprinkled throughout the country. As is usually the case, some restrictions apply.
Specially created prize packages will be awarded to three runners-up.
The Mountain Retreat package will include two nights lodging courtesy of Big Trees Realty, golf for two at Sequoia Woods Country Club, dinner for two at Sarafina’s Italian Cucina, and wine from Tanner Vineyards. The prize also includes a cavern experience for two adults and three children from Cave and Mine Adventures.
The Murphys Wine Experience is comprised of two nights in a vacation home from Murphys Vacation Rentals, a private wine paring featuring cheeses and tapenades from Vina Moda Winery, golf for two at Sequoia Woods Country Club, dinner for two at Grounds Restaurant, and wine from Tanner Vineyards.
The Vineyard Tour consists of two nights in a vacation home from Realty World – Murphys Realty, golf for two at Forrest Meadows, dinner for two at 498, a new restaurant in Murphys, a pair of theatre tickets from Murphy Creek Theatre, wine from Tanner Vineyards and a special vineyard tour created by Horse and Barrel.
Free Parking & Shuttle Service
Free parking will be available at Ironstone Vineyards on Six Mile Road. A free shuttle bus, provided by Ironstone and the Murphys Business Association, will run between Ironstone and the Arbors parking lot at Jones and Scott Streets. Shuttles will leave approximately every 20 minutes from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Weather permitting, paid parking will be available close to the event off of Big Trees Rd. and Main St. and free parking will be available at the Black Bart Playhouse parking lot on Algiers St. around 12:30 p.m. after the parade has finished and cleared. Handicap Parking will be located in the Arbors parking lot at Jones and Scott Streets.
There will be no parking from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Main, Church, Algiers, Sheep Ranch, Scott, and Jones Sts. and Six Mile Road. When traveling to the event motorists should use Highway 4, and not Murphys Grade Road.
Main Street will be closed from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the day of the event. Traffic will be detoured along Church St. and through the Bret Harte Center from the intersection of Main St. and Murphys Grade Rd. to Highway 4.
03/21/2009
Starts at 08:00 AM |
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