By Mary Spicer
DUBLIN-ON-FRENCH-CREEK — The Jack Curtin Stimulus Package has worked its economic miracle one more time.
Eight not-for-profit organizations — seven of them local — are almost $15,000 richer today as the result of an all-out,
no-holds-barred race for the honor of wearing the coveted Grand Leprechaun hat in today’s 23rd annual Jack Curtin St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Celebration.
The parade portion of the annual extravaganza kicks off promptly at noon from Diamond Park in the heart of beautiful downtown Meadville and will proceed at a traditionally leisurely pace along Chestnut Street. Both marchers and onlookers will continue into the Downtown Mall, where the post-parade celebration will commence.
Grand marshal of this year’s parade will be the woman credited with starting it all — Elisabeth Curtin-Crowley from Scituate, Mass., sister of the late Jack Curtin. She was the one who told her brother about how denizens of her town bought votes to select a “mayor” of their parade for the hefty sum of $1 each.
In the interest of full disclosure, with a deadline rapidly approaching, this reporter is still slightly snuffly in the wake of accepting the annual Irish Spirit Award bestowed on a breathtakingly fortunate individual by the illustrious parade committee. As parade organizer Eileen Curtin explained to the 100 celebrants gathered on the campus of Allegheny College for the second annual Grand Leprechaun Awards Dinner Friday night, she and I have been joined over the past six years by a common bond: we both think we’re both absolutely hilarious.
The numbers are in
Faith and begorrah — you can’t make this stuff up. A total of 16,489 votes were cast for six ballot candidates and two popular write-ins — totally eclipsing the all-time record of 10,941 votes set in 2009. Each vote costs — you guessed it — $1. Voters are encouraged — sometimes at shillelagh point — to vote early and often.
Ninety percent of the proceeds goes to the charity of each candidate’s choice while the remaining 10 percent supports the parade and celebration.
Meadville philanthropist Jim Duratz, whose campaign manager swears that he contributed not one penny of his own substantial collection of cash to the cause, captured the hat by collecting a total of 10,725 votes. In addition to collecting individual contributions, Duratz sold 200 raffle tickets for $50 each offering a chance to make use of his Heinz Field box (which seats 12!) for a University of Pittsburgh Panthers game. Ninety percent of the proceeds will benefit Meadville Medical Center’s Yolanda G. Barco Oncology Institute’s Benevolent Fund, which provides funding to help patients battling cancer stay on top of the day-to-day expenses that must be paid even when they’re unable to work.
Doug Smith, who placed second with 2,250 votes, didn’t limit his appeals to fellow orthodontists practicing in Pennsylvania. “I called in some cards from out-of-state,” he confessed.
For Connie Youngblood, who collected 1,720 votes, “the most exciting part was getting at $1 a time. It was one little contribution at a time.”
As for the future, the race is already on.
“In deference to Mr. Duratz, we decided to not run this year,” said Dave Stone, owner of Mickey’s Central Fire Sta-tion Restaurant & Lounge, the esteemed organization that won five of the first six Grand Lep-rechaun races through the use of highly-organized write-in campaigns. “Mr. Duratz is a fine, upstanding citizen,” Stone continued during an exclusive interview Friday afternoon, “and we didn’t want to compete against that.”
However, he continued, “we started our campaign for 2011 already. It’s the greatest Irish name in the city of Meadville. We’re going to get behind Mari Mullen, wife of (Allegheny College President) Jim Mullen. Her charity will be Women’s Services. We’re already collecting funds. We’re going to be in next year — and raring to go.”
Never one to shrink from a challenge, “Applications for candidates for Grand Leprechaun 2011 are already being taken,” Eileen Mullen (no relation to the Allegheny Mullens) responded. Applicants should possess a strong sense of humor, a huge capacity for fun and the ability to monitor their ballot boxes and get them to the final count in a timely manner. Applications should include the percentage of Irish blood (Zero percent is entirely acceptable; the committee just wants to know) and a brief statement explaining why on earth you think subjecting yourself, all your friends and colleagues and everyone you ever met to three weeks of relentless torture could possibly be a good idea.
Applications should be submitted to Parade Committee Member Andy Walker in care of Pennsylvania Environmental Council, 301 Chestnut St., Meadville, Pa., 16335. If Walker seems to be surprised about receiving your application, refer him to today’s paper and recommend that he read this story all the way to the end.
Mary Spicer can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at mspicer@meadvilletribune.com
