St. Patrick’s Day events approaching

St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner and the Dublin Chamber of Commerce is already making plans for this to be the best “day of green” ever!

St. Patrick’s Day events are scheduled Thursday, March 14 – Saturday, March 16 and will include the annual Miss Dublin, Junior Miss Dublin and Little Miss Dublin once again.

For those wanting to enter this year’s pageants hosted by the chamber there are a few dates to keep in mind.

On Sunday, Feb. 11 pageant signups will occur at the Dublin Intermediate School. Little Miss Dublin signups will be from 1-2 p.m., Jr. Miss Dublin from 2-3 and Miss Dublin from 3-4 p.m.

“We want to say a big thank you to The Women’s Thursday Club, Methodist Church and DISD for all of the support,” Chamber Pageant organizer Kristi Watkins said. Last year the organization was able to raise the scholarship amount from $350 to $1,000.

“Ticket sells have a big impact on us being able to do that and we really appreciate the community for buying them,” she said.

The Little Miss Dublin Tea will be held from 3-4 p.m. Sunday, March 3 at The Station and the Jr. and Miss Dublin interviews will take from from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, March 3 at the First Methodist Church.

The Little Miss Dublin pageant will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 14 at the Intermediate School and Jr. Miss Dublin and Miss Dublin pageants are at 7 p.m. Friday, March 15.

On Saturday, March 16 a slew of events will be taking place including the annual parade at 10 a.m. through downtown Dublin. All winners of the pageants will be able to ride on the chamber’s shiny shamrock float.

There will also be a car show, vendor booths, an Irish Stew Cook off, food and alcohol vendors and live music at the Dublin City Park.

Partial proceeds from the parking will again go to the Sound of Dublin High School band and last year the chamber was able to donate over $1,000 to the band for its Disney World Trip.

For the Irish Stew cook off, which will be held Saturday, March 16, the $75 entry fee will include meat and potatoes for the stew. Individuals, teams, organizations or businesses may enter with one entry fee per stew. Stews must be a traditional Irish Stew!

Setup will begin at 7 a.m. at the park and judged at 12:30 a.m.

Register for the stew cookoff at dublintxchamber. com.

As part of this year’s festivities, the high school baseball team is bringing their homerun derby to the park and local entertainment will be showcasing their talent throughout the day.

This year the chamber is selling custom t-shirts for people to wear at the event. Shirts will be $18 during presale, to be picked up the week of St. Patrick’s Day and $24 during the festival.

The chamber is also looking for sponsors for the annual event and sponsorships range from $100 to $1,000.

Pot O’ Gold sponsorships are available at $100, Irish Traditions sponsorship for $250, Shamrock Entm’t sponsorship for $500 and four-leaf cloversponsorships for $1,000.

“The Dublin Chamber of Commerce is working hard to bring our community and surrounding communities our annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival and we invite you to help make this event the best one yet!

Last year, we had our most successful event in years. This year, we are expecting an even bigger turn out,” President Blanca Martineau said. “In order to make this event possible, we need your support and help! Sponsorships are available to individuals and local businesses, logos will be added to all communications and donations are tax deductible. Register online or by filling out our registration form today at www. dublintxchamber.com.”