Henderson goes green for St. Patty’s Day

By Mandy Walton

Tuesday, March 17, 2009 | 4:03 p.m.

This weekend, downtown Henderson was a green party like no other. People were decked out in green attire, weird hats, and green Mardi Gras beads. The St. Patrick’s Day festival on Water Street was in full swing by Thursday night.

Since 2005, the Sons of Erin have been holding a St. Patrick’s Day parade on Water Street. This seems to work out well for downtown Henderson as it attracts thousands. The weather was wonderful, sunny and warm. The carnival also sets up shop on the events plaza to accompany the parade and festivities.

I went out to the carnival on Friday night along with many other residents I saw that I know from around town. The “Typhoon” was the most popular ride among risk-takers. My baby cried for me just looking at it because it scared him. The thing looks like a giant pendulum -- the bottom end juts out at a 90 degree angle and contains two rows of seats. It starts swinging side to side and eventually gets up in the air and drops on either side. Too fast and too high up for me. My 9-year old cousin went on it and had a smile on his face the entire time. Crazy kid.

The merry-go-round wasn’t all that merry. There weren’t any strap belts on the horses like there are on the carousel out at The District, so I didn’t want to put my son on one of the horses. So, we sat on one of the benches to watch. As the merry-go-round began, it was alright, not too fast. But as the ride went a little faster I started getting dizzy and sick. The mini, merry-go-round made a mini circle, with not much room to catch your bearings. I was dizzy by about the fourth rotation. I didn’t ride anything after that.

I did, however, have a “funnel cake” or “Indian Fry Bread” or whatever you like to call them. Fry bread, churros, and cotton candy come as a highlight with carnivals. Until I was an adult, I was thoroughly convinced that you couldn’t get a churro anywhere but Disneyland or a carnival.

I wasn’t too excited for the parade Saturday morning because I had a lot of things to do that day. But there’s no way you can stay in a bad mood when you see thousands of people dressed in green, lining Water Street to have a good time. Everyone was smiling and excited for the parade.

I live relatively close to Water Street and throughout the weekend I saw groups of people from my neighborhood walking to and from downtown. This is the Henderson that I love.