Wee bit of fun
<p>The Coeur d’Alene Irish Dancers perform down Sherman Avenue Saturday during the Saint Patrick’s Day parade.</p>
<p>Cory Bryan, right, high-fives a man dressed as a can of beer during the Saint Patrick’s Day parade Saturday in Coeur d’Alene.</p>
<p>Miss North Idaho Fair and Rodeo, Jessica Norlander rides down Sherman Avenue during the Saint Patrick’s Day parade after playing in the girls Idaho all-star game at North Idaho College.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - It seems like everyone is a wee bit Irish on St. Patrick's Day.
Brothers Kieran, 2, and 11-month-old Emery Sanborn wore colorful, traditional Irish flat caps as they watched the ninth annual Downtown Association's St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday.
"My son was loving it," said Christine Sanborn of Post Falls. "Every time something new would come along he would be screaming with excitement."
Her sons and her husband Patrick wore the Irish caps as a symbol of their very Irish heritage.
"My husband is just shy of 100 percent," she said.
The Sanborns enjoyed the parade among hundreds of shamrock and green-wearing others who lined Sherman Avenue. The 22-entry parade began at 4 p.m. at Eighth Street and proceeded west along Sherman, as Irish flags waved, sounds of bagpipes floated through the air and the sun broke through the overcast sky.
"The weather turned out to be perfect today," Christine said. "It was a great time to come down."
She said they planned to spend the St. Paddy's weekend with friends and family in the Irish tradition of the holiday.
"If you're Catholic, which most people in Ireland are, it's actually a holy day of obligation, which means that they don't go to work," Christine said. "They go to church, you spend time with your family and it's basically like a national holiday."
Keeping with Irish tradition, the Coeur d'Alene Firefighters Pipes and Drums led the parade and performed time-honored pieces as they marched. They have participated in five parades.
"For a pipe band, St. Paddy's and St. Paddy's weekend is like our Super Bowl," said Coeur d'Alene firefighter Josh Sutherland. Sutherland plays the snare drum in the band. He explained that pipe and drum bands are an important part of firefighter culture because of the many Irish immigrants who became firefighters "in the old days" in New York. Sutherland has a Scottish heritage. He said the Coeur d'Alene Firefighters Pipes and Drums practice once a week all year.
"This year, we started earlier than any other year," he said, adding that from Saturday through St. Patrick's Day the band would perform about 20 times in various locations.
Making their parade debut was the Coeur d'Alene Irish Dancers, a dance group of young ladies ages 7 to 18 who showcased fancy footwork.
"My favorite part is you get to walk and wave and do really fun moves in it," said Teigan Pope, 7, of Coeur d'Alene.
The 17 dancers rehearsed for a few weeks to get their parade moves down. Their teacher, Jessica Selander of Coeur d'Alene, was standing by right before the parade began.
"They've been working hard, so I think they're going to do a really good job," she said. "This is their first really big performance in front of a lot of people."
Dancer Grace McGowan, 11, of Post Falls, has been with the Irish Dancers for two years. She said she was inspired to be a dancer after seeing a live performance of Riverdance.
"From then on, I wanted to join," she said.
What's the best part of St. Patrick's Day?
"The corned beef and cabbage," Grace said.