[title subtitle=”recipe: Dwain Hebda
image: Visit Hot Springs”][/title]
Monte Everhart, a California transplant and Hot Springs tire dealer, is dealing with his own bum wheel, hobbling around with the help of an assistive device after breaking his ankle. Not a big deal for most people, but then most people aren’t one of two designated World’s Tallest Leprechauns for Hot Springs’ legendary World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
So, Monte put his physicians on make-no-mistake notice that from March 15-17, he’s got someplace to be in his lime green getup. Cavorting through the streets of Hot Springs like an overgrown Lucky Charms mascot may seem frivolous, but it’s a responsibility he takes with near-ecclesiastical gravitas.
Hot Springs loves a good party, and there is perhaps no event that better sums up this attribute than the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Silly, offbeat and irresistible, the event draws spectators by the thousands.
“Why does it work? It works because this community has such a love for being able to celebrate,” said Dona Pettey, co-owner of the Ohio Club and Queen of this year’s parade, her King being local barbecue genius Scott McClard. “Everybody wants to be a part of something that’s huge. I think that excitement is what brings people from all over.”
The World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade was cooked up by the genial mad hatters at Visit Hot Springs sixteen years ago. As incongruous as the concept may be (name another parade that celebrates being the shortest in the land), Hot Springs has had to fight for the right to party on that claim. Once other communities around the nation saw the media attention the Hot Springs event was drawing, several challenged for the title World’s Shortest, notably Portland. The Oregonians, like all challengers, have always been found wanting.
Still, that hasn’t made the Spa City crew any less strident. Pre-parade festivities include the official public measuring of the route—all ninety-eight feet of Bridge Street—for which Monte himself holds one end of measuring tape. Organizers once vowed the parade would march in place if a shorter route ever challenged their status.
Other singular attributes of the event spring from sly wit or claims that are simply inarguable. The official title, for instance, is the mouthful, The First Ever 16th Annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade, to which one can only shrug and say, well, they’re not wrong.
Same with the massive boulder out front of the gleaming Hot Springs Convention Center, which is unabashedly billed as the Arkansas Blarney Stone, “discovered by a leprechaun in the forests surrounding Hot Springs.” Unlikely, sure, but who’s to say? (Incidentally, there’s a contest to determine who can most creatively and, um, expressively kiss the boulder, known as “Romancing the Stone.”)
This year Ellen DeGeneres’ favorite DJ, Stephen tWitch Boss, kicks off the parade with his signature dance moves, and, this year’s Grand Marshal is none other than the Karate Kid himself, Ralph Macchio. Past Marshals include Pauley Shores, Kevin Bacon, Jim Belushi and Mike Rowe, just to name a few. Add to that, not one, but two free concerts from legendary Three Dog Night and Smash Mouth.
Such add-on activities have only enhanced the event. Actual attendance figures vary by who’s counting, but the fire marshal headcount of 30,000 is as close as any. It’s a fair guess that thousands more jam the downtown bars and restaurants nearby on that day, not to mention Oaklawn Racing and Gaming.
In truth, even the most stalwart supporters have a hard time pinpointing exactly why this event has become such a phenomenon and frankly, no one cares. There’s simply no explaining people cheering a four-ton Big Idaho Potato or running The World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s ZERO K Race (both new this year).
“I think some of that is just Hot Springs,” says Leysa, who was married in the middle of the parade one year. “We’re kind of a different place anyway. I think of Hot Springs as really unique in the state of Arkansas. We’re very multicultural, and it’s a wide age group as well.”
She pauses, and a droll twinkle enters her eye. “It’s a little bit weird, maybe. But, we’re fun.”
The First Ever 16th Annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Bridge Street, Hot Springs, AR
Full schedule at shortestpats.com
March 15: Live Music – Pop UP Pub Stage, ZERO K Race
March 16: Live Music – Pop UP Pub Stage, Smash Mouth FREE Concert
March 17: Live Music – Pop UP Pub Stage, Blarney Stone Kissing Contest, Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, Parade, Three Dog Night FREE Concert