Emporia transformed into the Emerald City Saturday to celebrate St. Patricks Day.
The annual St. Patrick’s Committee St. Patrick’s Day activities took place. Activities began with the Leprechaun Dash 5-k, a part of the ERC Super Series, at Town Royal.
Trey Sommers of the St. Patrick’s Committee says the annual event is the perfect way to kickstart the day of activities.
68 individuals took part in this year’s 5-K. 14-year-old Lillyan Gerow (Jer-Rowe) was the first to cross the finish line with a time of 22:56.
Following the morning run, the sound of bagpipes then filled the streets of downtown Emporia for the 25th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
The committee selected the late Michael Turnbull as the Honorary Parade Marshal. Turnbull was a former member and longtime supporter of the committee before his passing earlier this month.
Lowery says not only was Turnbull dedicated to helping the committee in any way he could, but he had the same level of dedication to helping his community. Ternes Lowery adds the committee had been wanting him to serve as marshal for several years.
After the parade concluded a special raffle drawing took place to see who would be going home with one of three special prizes. The raffle winners are as follows:
Lauer-Robbins Ranch side of beef: Cindy Renyer
55 inch TV from Triad Leasing: Sara Schnakenberg
Gufler Mansion Experience: Marie Clark
Parade award winners are as follows:
Family Award: the Gilligan Family
Business Award: Great Clips
Organization Award: Arab Shrine Temple
Committee Choice Award: Becoming a Mom
Saturday’s activities followed the committee’s annual benefit auction with all proceeds from both going to benefit the committee’s 24 local beneficiaries. This year’s fundraising goal is $30,000.
Video by Scott Hayes/ KVOE News
Photos by Tagan Trahoon and Scott Hayes
{gallery}St. Patricks Day 2019{/gallery}
