Everyone’s Irish on Fort Myers Beach on March 17
Everyone will be sporting 50 shades of green at the 20th annual Town of Fort Myers Beach Saint Patrick’s Day Parade. Dust off your shamrocks and join in the fun on Saturday, March 17. Come on down and enjoy the Beach’s own little patch of Ireland, complete with floats, color guard, neighborhood groups, musical bands, decorated cars, town officials and plenty of beads and green for everyone. And you’re likely to meet the man who started it all 20 years ago, Ray Murphy.
“The best thing about being Irish is we have so many good qualities – our gift of gab, our sense of humor,” said Murphy, the parade’s founder and chairman. “We love our stories and heritage. There is the Irish in all of us and those of us who wish they were, but hey, everybody is Irish at our parade.”
The parade will begin promptly at 10 a.m. marching north on Estero Boulevard for 1 mile to the Church of Ascension parking lot. The parade will last for approximately one hour and will conclude at 11 a.m. Don’t miss a thing. Plan ahead. Traffic will be stopped on Estero Boulevard between 9:45 and 11 a.m. with assistance from the Lee County Sheriff’s office.
“We start at Santini Plaza and end at the Church of the Ascension and over the years we have gotten larger and larger,” Murphy said. “This year we have our Lee County Pipe & Drum Corps Band who have always been with us, the color guards, civic, business and neighborhood groups, floats and musical bands, and everyone favorite the famous Budweiser Clydesdales.”
There’s plenty of people to thank for helping to make the day special, Murphy said.
“A big thank you to Father Bill Adams for all his help and the Knights of Columbus who will have lots of great things to eat for sale in the Church’s parking lot,” Murphy said. “After the parade everyone gathers for the beer, soft drinks, hot dogs and corned beef sandwiches and so many other good things to eat. Be sure to hang around.
“We couldn’t have the parade without the dedicated staff at the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Fort Myers Beach Fire District,” Murphy said. “It just doesn’t happen, its takes everyone helping out and giving us a hand. We are so appreciative to everyone who participates.”
Murphy recalled how this parade began.
“It all started 20 years ago with my friend Father Tom Goggin, who asked me to try and start up a Fort Myers Beach St. Patrick Day Parade like they had done in Naples,” Murphy said. “We thought we could do just as good a parade, so I approached the town council and at that time everyone on the council had a last name that began with O, so they loved the idea.”
The first Fort Myers Beach St. Patrick’s Day Parade had about 30 to 40 people participating and they closed the Matanzas Pass Bridge.
“Everyone was giving us feedback about with such a small parade, why did we close the bridge,” Murphy said. “They weren’t happy with us. So on the second year, we changed the route to where it is has been for the last 19 years and everyone was much happier.”
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated internationally every March 17. It is a religious Irish holiday to commemorate Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland that dates back to the ninth century. The first St. Patrick’s Day Parade actually took place in New York City on March 17, 1762. It was held by Irish soldiers who were serving in the British army, they marched to Irish music to help them reconnect with their Irish ancestry and fellow servicemen. After all these years the parade and celebration has survived and is still a celebratory annual tradition all over the United States, including Fort Myers Beach.
“My favorite part of the parade is that for me it’s a family thing,” Murphy said. “My parents have been with us since the beginning. Mom (family was Scottish and Irish) and dad (second-generation Irish) are still so happy to be a part of the Irish spirit.
“Everyone is always in such a great mood,” Murphy said. “And they say, ‘What do you think Ray?’ And I say every year is bigger and better than the last year.”