Hi Don and Bob: Obviously you two boys are fine Irishmen of the first order, your fond memories say that's so. I too have memories of some mighty fine St Pat's day get togethers. I also learned something very important at my first St Patrick's day party, and that was: "Never wear a white shirt to a party where they were serving Green Beer." This was something very important to know unless it was your intention to own various colors of shirts to wear to work in the coming weeks. T'was sad but true that white shirts never returned to their proper status after a most satisfying St Pats get together. And no one will ever tell you about this important piece of information until its too late, generally a wife.----Jim ----- Original Message ----- From: Don Spencer<mailto:dspencer@rollanet.org> To: Bob Doerr<mailto:bdoerr@msm.umr.edu> Cc: JAMES O BRASHER<mailto:jims505@msn.com> Sent: Sunday, March 18, 2007 8:55 AM Subject: Re: [MO-STLOUIS-METRO] St Patrick Hi Bob, and glad to meet you Jim. As you probably saw, Bob, I again was driving the GDI Fire Truck! In case you didn't notice it was not dry even though I was! Seems as though the beer and my meds don't mix - - - - #%@$<mailto:#%@$>! As for Alice, WHERE IN THE WORLD DID THAT COME FROM??? It is not Tradition by any stretch of the imagination! It had to have happened between 1955 and 197something. My son (ca1978 ) was the first to tell me of it. It was always a dried cowpie nestled in a bed of old straw in a box, that served as the blarney stone for knighting ceremonies. In my day this was done in Parker Hall Auditorium, remember the place? So Alice as far as I was concerned was a concoction of the then generation. The latter 60's, into the 80's decades did have a quite different group of students. Just out of KOREA and NAM, but I won't go there now. The means of traction during '48 - '52 was mixed "self propelled" and "drawn" even drought horses (plow horses to us rednecks!) and even then the advertising was prominent, but by placards not vehicles. As far as the beer is concerned, it's just hidden better! It's still there, as is Irish whiskey! I was at a Frat house just prior to the parade, and the beer was in the open on the frat property. On of the boys happened to be standing on the side walk by the parking lot and his brothers reminded him to get back on the Frat property! At least that's their interpretation of the public issue. As you know I have been in the last 4 or 5 parades with the Truck (which belongs to my Son,) and I think the enthusiasm is still there, but at a completely different level than we knew. One because my class was just behind all the WWII vets returning to school and they were a rougher breed of cat. The worst hazing was to throw the St. Pats Board into the Frisco Pond along with several other notable students. The geese were not heard or seen by me - - - - - probably because I had a very loud siren on the Truck! :-) Don Bob Doerr wrote: Hi, Jim, For the first time in many years, I attended the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Rolla. It was the 99th such. It was also a great disappointment. Things have changed. The weekend is not nearly as wild as in former times. Drinking in public is prevented by the police. Alice has been abandoned. You may ask, "What was Alice?" Alice was a tank of the most awfulest, stinky stuff imaginable, colored green. New Knights of St. Patrick were briefly immersed in the stuff. Fortunately for them, previously-installed Knights were ready with hoses to wash them of the worst of the stuff. But without Alice and without a vast amount of beer, the students lost their enthusiasm. Another factor is that, about 45 years ago, self-propelled floats were proscribed. Previously, the fraternities would acquire old vehicles for a few dollars, strip them to their frames, and build neat floats, with much action, on the frames. It was quite a challenge. Unfortunately, almost always one or two of the floats would 'conk out' and block the parade. Now, without a challenge, a few fraternities each throw together a crude float on a trailer and get a local business to tow the 'float' in the parade with a pickup truck. The business gets some publicity, if only from having their truck in the parade. But that expanded and now most of the 'floats' are merely advertising devices, unrelated to the University. The highlight of the parade was a flight of waterfowl migrating north high over Rolla; the local TV presentation of the parade did include a shot of the birds. The Budweiser Clydesdales added a touch of class, but remain mere advertising devices. There was an interesting item. Surely you have seen some of the huge multi-engine trucks used in competitive 'pulls'. Someone had a miniature with four Briggs & Stratton engines. I am unlikely to attend the centennial parade. But St. Patrick Church celebrated with a great corned beef and cabbage dinner, so the day was saved. Bob Doerr in the beautiful Missouri Ozarks ----- Original Message ----- From: "JAMES O BRASHER" <jims505@msn.com><mailto:jims505@msn.com> To: "mo-stlouis-metro-l rootsweb" <mo-stlouis-metro-l@rootsweb.com><mailto:mo-stlouis-metro-l@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2007 5:18 PM Subject: [MO-STLOUIS-METRO] St Patrick Happy St Patrick's Day to ALL. The parade is over down here and all that is left to do is drink a few green one's. Even Josephine has finally got the hang of making a nice pot of corned beef and cabbage. The only thing I must be careful of and very vigilant about is; I must watch her carefully to see that she doesn't sneak a few pods of green chili into the pot. Last year when I complained her comment was: "What are you complaining about, Its green isn't it?" Yes, I told her, and so was my face. Hope everyone has a happy day.----Jim ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MO-STLOUIS-METRO-request@rootsweb.com<mailto:MO-STLOUIS-METRO-request@rootsweb.com> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message