Mark Remembers Why He Doesn’t Drink Colored Beer Anymore

St. Patricks Day is coming up soon. Do you celebrate the holiday? Is that because you're Irish? Or is it because you think that it's fantastic that we celebrate a holiday that is mostly about drinking?

When I was younger, I was all about it. It's not a day to just celebrate drinking, but a day when it's OK to start drinking early in the day.

I've always enjoyed the St. Patrick's parade. But then again, I'm a huge fan of parades in general. I grew up watching Macy's Thanksgiving parade and others in the big cities. And this kid, from a small town in Montana, couldn't imagine what it must be like to see a sixty-foot-tall Snoopy balloon go floating by.

Now, there are places in Billings that offer just more than green beer and specials on Guinness to celebrate the day. Some offer corned beef and cabbage. And I think that it's pretty cool that they would put some effort into expanding on what the holiday means to true Irishmen.

OK, here's the part that I had to look up. Irish families have celebrated this holiday for over a thousand years. They would attend church in the morning and then celebrate in the afternoon. And they skipped the lenten tradition of not eating meat. And would celebrate by dancing, drinking, and feasting on Irish bacon and cabbage.

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My most memorable St. Patty's Day memory was a very long time ago when pitchers of beer were only two bucks. But by the time they got to our table, they had run out of green food coloring. So we got a pitcher of purple beer. And that's why I gave up drinking colored beer in the early 1980s.

If you want to celebrate St. Patty's day in Billings with a bunch of radio hosts and staff, Cat Country and our sister stations are having our annual Pub Golf event this Saturday at 10:30. You can sign up to play with a team of five here. Lucky you, I won't be there so you'll probably win some cash.