You can feel the green creeping in.. It starts with decorations in the windows of homes through out Beverly, Morgan Park and Mt. Greenwood. Yes, green shamrocks and Irish flags and even green mini lights on bushes and trees. Then the green mania spreads to the stores, you start to see Sox-Side Irish t-shirts and green and gold Mardi gras like beads and tiny, plastic, green mugs hanging from necklaces,(presumably for those wee tiny people to drink milk from!).
For the "more sophisticated" green manics, The Beverly Art Center announces it's Irish Film Festival and the parade committee has a fundraiser at Bourban Street. Then you start to see green cookies and an increased amount of Irish soda bread appears on shelves at County Fair and The Beverly Bakery. Green cookies magically arrive on the shelves of local coffee shops like Blue Moon, Favia and The Beverly Coffee Shop. We see specials like "smoked butt" and corned beef and cabbage more frequently on the menus at Ken's, Richie's and at Quigley's. The green is creeping and it permeates the entire South side.
Then like the sun breaking over Croke Park in Dublin as County Mayo wins the All Ireland in Gaelic Football, the green mania blankets the South side on March 15th with the South Side Irish Parade!
Then just as the sun never shines for long in Ireland, before you can repeat "fiddle dee, fiddle dee dum" three times and spin your self around twice, 3 to 7 hours later, depending on when you got started, all the fun and excitement is over!
Before you know it, in the wink of a Leprechaun's eye, like Mardi Gras at the stroke of midnight, at the end of the parade, the 22nd District with the help of officers from all over the city on foot and on horseback sweep the street of people figuratively and literally. Following close behind is the Chicago Dept. of Streets and San. sweeping the street again of all of the green rubbish,(and empty beer cans that were technically not allowed), and before you know it Beverly and Morgan Park is back to normal.
So if you enjoy the "green mania" jump on board and enjoy the ride. Go to the Beverly Art Center, shop and dine out in order to enjoy all of the lovely green and Irish foods and treats. Stock up for the parade, celebrate the day and have yourself, "a bit o' craic",(a good ol' Irish time)!
If your not a fan, take a deep breath, relax, ignore the green mania and head out of the area early on the morning of the 15th before the barricades go up. When you return it will all be over! Slainte!
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