Hobo articles represent the previous month's activities, and are published in MHJC's "Jeepers In The New's"
41st Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade thru Lo-Do in Denver:
On Saturday March 15th, 8 Hobos, and 2 Alpine 14er's all from the Mile-Hi Jeep Club, were in the 41st Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade thru Lo-Do in Denver. This year's theme was 'A Salute to the American Dream'. MHJC Hobos wearin' the green in the parade were: Patrol Leader Paul 'WeiszGuy' Weisz (CJ7) with daughter Leslie & son Brett, Pete 'JeepDog' Rameriz (TJ) with wife Julie, Me--Bill 'Hobo Willy' Hallinan (CJ7) and my Jeepin'-Sidekick Molly, Marc 'Nugget' Gilbertson (CJ7) with wife Kristen & their baby daughter, Scott 'Mad Max' Maxwell (TJ) with his mother-in-law & sons Pete and Tom, Ken 'Toolman' Kordes (CJ5), & Jed 'Clampett' McClelland (CJ7). MHJC members of Patrol 14-Alpine 14er's included: Dale Znamenacek (TJ), and John Over (Willys-Flatfender) with Arlene. The parade was a blast to run in, once we FINALLY got started! See details below. Wow! Who would of thought in 4 days after this sunny warm day, we would be in 2-3 feet of snow! Ya gatta love Colorado huh!!
We all met at my house at 8:15am to leave at 8:30am as a meeting point to head to Lo-Do. The weather the whole week before had been sunny in the upper 60's-70, and very warm for mid-March. So, Saturday was predicted to be the same and was. It seemed strange to be heading downtown instead of the mountains, but all in due time. Mind you, I was under the assumption from the Parade Committee and the info sheet to be ready by 10am in the staging area. Good thing, because it took 30 minutes in traffic to arrive at the staging area.
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The Hobos & MHJC heading down Blake Street… |
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Once we arrived we 'quickly' decorated our Jeeps for the parade, thinking it was going to start soon. But, come to find out, it wasn't for another 3 hours till we would shove off. It was a 'hurry and wait', and soon the waiting was long. After everyone was decorated, and boredom set in, we took a pool on when we would go. Times from 11:30 to 1:00pm were picked. Soon, we saw Division 1 leave (we were in Division 3, and there were 250 entries in the parade). Wow, finally at 1:02pm we moved! Pete won the pool for his choice of 1:00pm.
The parade route was changed this year to Lo-Do from downtown. I hear the police recommended it probable because it was easier to manage. The bars liked it too. I would have preferred downtown myself. The parade start was at 27th and Blake, down to 17th, right to Union Station and back to the parking lot. Seemed really short in length. Other people who were near us and did last year's parade said this route was a lot shorter then downtown. Thanks to Peter & Tom Maxwell, and Leslie & Brett Weisz, for walking ahead of us with the MHJC and Hobo banners.
Once we finally got started, and into more crowds further south, it was pretty fun. Everyone waved back as we all waved to the crowd. All I saw were positive attitudes from everyone on the street. I hope it reflected the same about MHJC. Paul with his brand new fireball paint job (painted that Tuesday) looked great, while Molly--my Jeepin'-Sidekick was hamming up the crowd too. It was a strange thing we had to stop at every intersection as the police were letting cross traffic by. I would of thought that parade's have right-a-way? Oh well.
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Patrol Leader--Paul 'WeiszGuy' Weisz and Pete 'JeepDog' Rameriz lead the way… |
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We made or way to the viewing area at the SE corner of Coors Field. Channel 2 (WB2) had only planned on televising the parade from 11am-1pm. Remember, we didn't finally leave till 1pm. So, when we arrived there were no cameras in sight. Wish we could of left an hour earlier! Oh well. The crowds were thicker on Wynkoop to Union Station. Then as soon as we started, it was over. Hummm. We headed behind Coors Field back to the staging area to un-decorate.
Being it was just a little after 2pm, we were a bit hungry. So some of us decided to head down to Beaujoe's for some specialty pizza to celebrate. All in all, running in the parade was still a lot of fun. We hope to run next year, but not being rookies anymore will get our entry in much sooner, and hopefully a slot in Division 1--near the beginning of the parade. We may also join in on some other parades this year too, and hopefully project more positive PR for
MHJC. Til then, finish winter projects & change the oil, cause the
2003 jeepin' season is soon to begin!!!
See ya on the trail, "Jeep, Jeep"
Bill Hallinan HoboJeepers
Happy Hobo Easter 2003!!
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