'A wee bit Irish'

COEUR d’ALENE — Nancy DiGiammarco is the grand marshal for today’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown Coeur d’Alene.

A fine choice.

“I’m a wee bit Irish,” the Hayden woman said Thursday.

She may only have a little Irish on her side of the family, but husband Jim is half Irish and they 100% love Ireland. They spent two weeks there in November to celebrate their 55th anniversary. 

The castles and cathedrals, the hills of green, kissing the Blarney Stone and nearly being blown away at the Cliff of Mohr were all magical.

“It was amazing,” DiGiammarco said. “So beautiful. People were so friendly and nice. It's such a peaceful quiet place. What a culture.”

The 19th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. at Eighth and Sherman and travel west to First Street.

And perhaps thanks to the luck of the Irish, instead of the usual cold, wind and rain of March in North Idaho, the forecast is calling for sunny skies, with highs in the low 60s.

Organized by the Coeur d'Alene Downtown Association in partnership with Idaho Central Credit Union, the parade theme is Green and Gold. There are about 25 entries, with leprechauns, bagpipers, Irish wolf hounds and Guinness cans among them.

Other parade celebrities include Patrick Strain as Irish Man of the Year; Laurie Thomas as the Irish Woman of the Year; and Keelin Wilson as the Irish Colleen of the Year.

DiGiammarco said that from their first visit to Ireland, she treasures kissing the Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle.

It’s not easy. You have climb a narrow flight of stairs, lie down on your back, lean back and down into a hole and pull yourself up to kiss the Blarney Stone.

DiGiammarco did it.

“For me, that was a big accomplishment,” she said, laughing.

They saw much of Ireland, including visiting the sites made famous by the iconic John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara 1952 movie, “The Quiet Man.” 

“We kissed on the bridge,” DiGiammarco said.

She was impressed with the courtesy of Ireland's drivers. She noted that in small towns, residents would stop their cars in the middle of a road to run into a store and other drivers would just calmly go around.

“No one honked their horn,” she said. 

DiGiammarco led the marketing team at Silverwood Theme Park for 16 years, retiring in 2014.

“I had the privilege of seeing that park grow from being a tiny little park to the largest attraction in the state of Idaho,” she said.

She was surprised, but honored to be this year’s St. Patrick's Day Parade grand marshal. 

“This is going to be so much fun,” she said. "To be able to represent not only the Irish culture I have, but to relive the wonderful trip we made to Ireland, it means a lot to me because this community means a lot to me."