Have you ever wanted to be Irish for a day or are you just looking for a way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a day full of fun events?

Well, you are very welcome to join the Krewe of Killarney in celebration of the Patron Saint of Ireland on his special day by attending the 24th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Monday, beginning at 5:30 p.m. for the parade line up and the parade at 6 p.m.

Other events planned for the day will be a special St. Patrick’s Day Mass at St. Mary Basilica at 12:05 p.m. Also, a special lunch buffet will be served between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. by the Natchez Eola Hotel with traditional Irish food. For every lunch purchased at the Eola, Manager Ron Brumfield says he will donate $5 to the krewe. Andrew’s Tavern will open at noon, serving green beer and other refreshments for the celebration and will be open after the parade also.

The Krewe of Killarney was organized 24 years ago to raise money for two local charities, Pleasant Acre Day School and Holy Family Learning Center in Natchez. We award five seniors from local high schools scholarships every year.

If you would like to join the Krewe of Killarney, our dues are only $30 for families and $20 for singles, but it’s not a requirement to be in the parade or celebrate with us, and you do not have to be Irish to belong to this worthwhile organization.

We only have one meeting a year, our annual St. Patrick’s Party & Auction hosted by the outgoing St. Patrick from the previous year and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

This year’s party, held last Saturday, was hosted by St. Patrick XXII Charlie Blaney, who did his best during his reign to keep the snakes out of Natchez, but somehow they always work their way back in!

We are honored in 2014 to have Patrick P. Burns Jr. reign as our St. Patrick XXIV. His Father, Pat Burns Sr., was St. Patrick II of the Krewe 22 years ago. Pat will lead the St. Patrick’s Day Parade this year and wants to invite everyone to put on your favorite green outfit (the wilder the better), purchase your beads from Pleasant Acre Day School and come on out for our annual walking parade, where St. Patrick along with his “Blarney Babes” and the rest of the Krewe, will do his best to rid Natchez of all the snakes that have worked their way into Natchez since last year.

We have a piper coming in from Forrest, Zoe Brumfield, who will play the bagpipes accompanied by our resident drummer, Terry Trovato, who donates his time and talent every year, and many former St. Patricks also leading the parade.

The parade will end at the gazebo on the bluff, where all the snakes will be cast into the river.

Immediately following the parade, St. Patrick will host a reception at Bowie’s Tavern, where the fun will continue.

Natchez and the surrounding community has a lot of Irish heritage and blood running through its veins, but St. Patrick XXIV, Pat Burns Jr., says it’s OK for everybody to be Irish for a day! Hope to see you at the Parade on St. Patrick’s Day.

If you don’t want to participate in the parade, come out anyway and show your support for St. Patrick as he leads the parade down Main Street to the gazebo and may the luck of the Irish be with you always.

Ricky Warren is captain of the Krewe of Killarney.