Papa Rocco’s St. Paddy’s Walking Parade will roll again
Papa Rocco’s St. Paddy’s Walking Parade will roll again
Fun times back for Papa Bill McGinnes & company on March 17
By Fran Thompson
For the first time ever, the annual Papa Rocco’s St. Patrick’s Day Walking Parade, which will depart from that bistro’s deck somewhere around 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 17, will have a police escort.
Papa Rocco himself, Bill McGinnes, will lead the green throng of soon-to-be good friends on its merry walk through downtown Gulf Shores in search of alcohol laden beverages and good times. And the grand marshall would have been more than happy to pay for the Gulf Shores Police Dept. to help with traffic control and safety concerns.
But Gulf Shores City Council agreed to provide the service gratis this year when approving the bistro owner’s assembly permit at a recent Council meeting.
“The deputy chief (Dan Netemeyer) said he would be here himself and he suggested that I take up a collection among the other restaurant owners to pay for the police to be there in the future,’’ McGinnes said.
“I appreciated that and the city waiving the fee this year. But the whole idea when we started this thing was to go in and help them get a little jump start to the season, not ask for money. So, I would just as soon pay for it myself in the coming years.’’
Sponsored by the Papa Rocco’s (one block north of the beach on Hwy. 59) owner, the parade of pubs has been a Gulf Shores tradition since the mid-1970’s when then Pink Pony Pub owner Vince Murphy recruited the late bagpiper Jocko McLain and a few friends to visit a list of bars that mostly no longer exist.
There was no such thing as a spring break season back then, as many local restaurants and retailers closed up shop between Labor Day and Memorial Day weekends.
“When Vince Murphy started this, there were maybe 30 people,’’ McGinnes said. “No way we ever dreamed it would get this big. I am getting calls from all over the U.S. This has become a really big deal, and all we were trying to do was make it be a good time while giving a little jump start to the local pubs.’’
Murphy passed the baton to local character John Kelliher, who led the swarm behind Jocko into Papa Rocco’s just after McGinnes opened his restaurant in 1984. Kelliher, The Colonel to his friends, deemed McGinnes worthy of the grand marshal’s position in 1989.
“We didn’t have a spring break tourists back then. It’s gotten a lot bigger, obviously. I’m expecting the biggest crowd yet,’’ McGinnes said. “People come from all over Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Our snowbirds love it. And we do get some spring breakers.
“We even have grandkids of some of the originals coming out with us,’’ McGinnes added.
The Green Horde is easy to find, as the crowd takes over the grounds at every stop, and this is just the fifth parade since the passing of McLean, the parade’s original bagpiper, who died in August of 2017 at his home in Canada.
But although Jocko is gone in body, his spirit will always be a big part of the festivities and the heart and soul of the parade, according to McGinnes.
“I met Jocko at the American Legion and we immediately sat down and killed off a bottle of Irish whiskey between us,’’ McGinnes said. “We started talking about Scotland and the Rangers (soccer team) and it was like we had known each other for years. There were a couple of years when we hitched a ride back to Papa Rocco’s, but I can’t do that anymore.’’
McGinnes said he loves that the parade is a way for wintering grandparents to spend a fun day with their adult children and adult grandchildren. He added that a big part of the parade’s allure is that it is often a reunion for old friends that know for sure they will see each other on St. Patrick’s Day in downtown Gulf Shores.
“We want to make sure that people are being safe when crossing public roads. That’s paramount. People need to stay safe.
“But we are not sure what we are doing besides having fun,’’ McGinnes said. “I do know that lots of people come up and tell me they look forward to this every year.’’
The Gulf Shores Police Dept. has asked all participants to drink from plastic cups (see Papa Rocco’s advertisement on page 2), stay on the sidewalks, obey traffic signals and use discretion when consuming cocktails.
McGinnes will pay to bring bagpiping pied pipers led by his nephew (Neil McGinnes) to signal when it is time to move to the next pub. They will also play songs at most every stop.
“Jocko was the original,’’ McGinnes added. “He was doing it way before my boys came down and played. We were close for many years. Jock gave me my first kilt.’’
After leaving Papa Rocco’s, the parade usually proceeds to The Flying Harpoon, Mudbugs, The Steamer, Desoto’s, The Hangout, The Pink Pony, Gulf Island Grille and Hooters. The crawl ends around 2 p.m. at Mikee’s. But by then most of the crowd will have been left behind to eat a meal at one of the other stops. The Green Horde is easy to find, as there are way too many people to fit inside most of the stops.