Any day in Shamrock, a Panhandle city of fewer than 2,000, you can charge your l’esla electric car at a legendary Route 66 icon that was the inspiration for the gas station in Disney’s Cars. You can gaze up at the tallest historic water tower in Texas. And you can even kiss a slab from Ireland’s original Blarney Stone.
But if you really want to get in the Shamrock spirit, come during the third weekend in March. That’s when thousands of revelers roll in for the state’s official St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, a multi-day gala of green that honors the city’s namesake lucky charm.
The tradition goes back to 1938, when Shamrock bandmaster Glenn Truax conceived a way to capitalize on the city’s name, which had its roots in the county’s first post office application by rish immigrant sheep rancher George Nickel of Wheeler County in 1890. That year the Shamrock Boosters Club put on a one-day parade and party that attracted a few thousand people and 12 bands. It’s been held annually ever since, except for a few interruptions during wartime.
Shamrock native Bobbie Crowley, now in her late eighties, was among a wagonload of her O’Gorman siblings in that first parade — at age 8. “We rode in a horse-drawn wagon led by Marion Reynolds,” she recalls. “The crowd was enormous.”
Shamrock businessman Harry Garrison, also of Irish descent, remembers that back in the day “every school for miles around, and every band” took part in the parade. “There were crowds everywhere, on top of buildings, anyplace you could find a place to stand.” Mead’s Fine Bread of Amarillo, he recalls, threw out miniature loaves to eager watchers.
GOD’S GREEN EARTH For one weekend in March each year, Shamrock entertains upwards of 20,000 revelers.
These days the multi-day event draws more than 20,000 visitors, according to Shamrock spokesman Larry Clonts. In 2013, the 83rd Texas legislature designated it the state’s official celebra-tion.
There are plenty of shenanigans for revelers of all ages. Official festivities kick off with a Friday evening banquet and country club dance. Parade day this year is Saturday, March 18, starting at 10:30 a.m. in the 800 block of North Main Street and proceeding south to the plaza beneath the city’s iconic water tower.
Other Saturday events include a 5K Fun Run, a carnival, street vendors, a motorcycle rally and an Old Settlers’ Reunion. The U-Drop Inn on Route 66 hosts an antique classic car, truck and motorcycle show beginning at 1 p.m. A dance takes place that evening.
A carnival and an arts and crafts show run both Saturday and Sunday. The Miss Irish Rose pageant will crown its queen at 3 p.m. on Saturday; a Lad ’n’ Lassie Beauty Pageant will take place Sunday afternoon.
One competition lends a distinctively Irish flair to Shamrock’s populace — the adult male portion, at least: a contest to see who sports the best Donegal beard yields a $100 prize.
