PATROL ONE
2003 OUTINGS
Saturday
March 15, 2003 Click on an Irish tune while you browse this report.
*
with more
photos...thanks to Pete Rameriz....
On a warm mid-March day, 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, Bill 'Hobo Willy' Hallinan (CJ7) and his 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 from 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!
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Meeting up with good friends... |
for a fun parade downtown. |
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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Waiting in the staging area, all decorated and no place to go.… |
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Waiting, and ready.… |
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. There was Irish bagpipes, and a party float nearby to entertain us. Everyone around us had the same time to kill.
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Pete's 'Jeepdog'.… |
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Pete and I prep our dogs for the parade.… |
After everyone was decorated, and boredom set in, we took a pool on when we would go. Every time 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. Wahooo!........On we go in the parade!
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The Hobos and MHJC down Blake St.… |
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Paul (left), & Pete (right) lead the way... |
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 of 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 banner and the Hobo banner.
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John Over of Patrol 14 and his Flatfender… |
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| Ken 'Toolman' Kordes (left), & Dale Znamenacek of Patrol 14 (right) |
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. Being behind Paul and his brand new fireball paint job (painted that Tuesday), Molly my 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. Thought parade's have right-a-way?
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The 'Mad Max' Maxwells wave to the crowd… |
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Patrol Leader Paul 'Weiszguy' Weisz's new fireball CJ7… |
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Myself and my Jeepin' Sidekick Molly… |
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. We headed behind Coors Field back to the staging area to un-decorate.
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Ken Kordes' s CJ5 makes the turn at Union Station… |
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| Marc 'Nugget' & Kristen Gilbertson (sorry guys--only photo) |
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| Jed 'Clampett' McClelland's CJ7 |
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| Un-decorating in the Coors Field parking lot, and ready for some pizza!! |
Being 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.
"Jeep, Jeep,"
See ya on the trail,
Bill Hallinan HoboJeepers
*Thanks to Pete & Julie Rameriz for the photos...
Here are some other links on the Parade:
*Official 2003 St. Patrick's Day Parade Website
*Another 2003 St. Patrick's Day Parade Website
*2003 St. Patrick's Day Parade Entertainment Denver Website
*To HOBOJEEPERS HOMEPAGE w/frames*
To HOBOJEEPERS HOMEPAGE without frames
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