The History of the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Phoenix
By Mike Hogan
When one visits Ireland and first sees Tipperary, there’s a large blue sign with white lettering announcing “Welcome to Tipperary: You’ve come a long way” Dry Irish humor, and state sponsored-at that!
Well, we don’t have such a sign. Yet we Welcome you to the 40 th annual Phoenix St. Patrick’s Day Parade, with one of your hosts, Mike Hogan. (More on that later)
Some of us have come a long way to arrive at today’s milestone. But, we begin, well, back at the beginning. It, this thing, began at Flynn’s Irish Imports in October of 1982. The Parade’s First Headquarters. Lorraine Flynn Irish Imports, where proprietor and founding member, Lorraine and her husband Mike, hosted the first meetings and—in a real bricks and mortar building--told us how it was going to be, bless her heart. That committee, with peace, grace, hope and light, had a vision which was to simply honor their heritage.
The day of the Parade arrived, and the unofficial, in the field as it were, “headquarters” moved to Durant’s on Central and Virginia., using the Park Central parking lot as the first staging area, Durant’s—from the cloak of darkness, providing “not bad” Irish Coffee. I was also there, beginning my journey, a young draftee as one of the first “parade” starters.
The first one was sponsored by the Phoenix New Times, and was populated with cartoon characters from a cartoon strip called Life in Hell with Binky the Rabbit, Sheba his female rabbit wife and little Bongo their male rabbit offspring. (For you real afficianados, Akbar and Jeff were dressed as leprechauns!) These characters would eventually appear, sparingly, in TVs “The Simpsons”. Yes, Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons has a Phoenix St. Pats Connection. Sadly, that relationship would only last one year, the inaugural one.
In Ireland, there is an expression that even God Can’t change the past, only Historians and Hollywood screen writers can hope to do so. That’s where I come in. Today, I am being honored The Phoenix Parade Society’s Irish Man of the Year” and while grateful, very curious. Why me?
The reason, I am arguably the only person in Phoenix, perhaps the world who has
participated in all 40 Phoenix St. Patrick’s Day parades That’s it, I outlived everyone else. As good a credential as any to be the Parade Historian. This should bring to mind the image of “When Irish eyes are smiling, they are usually up to something.” There is some upside to that, as well as downside. In Ireland, don’t die too late in life, it may be hard to find six of your friends who are strong enough to carry the casket, to act as pall bearers.
My journey to today began in Ireland, with parents, John and Mary Hogan, fringe founding members of the parade, born in Ireland, then emigrated from Ireland, Limerick and Kerry, and eventually made it here, through London during the War (the second one) through New York, to Arizona. They were not alone. One can go anywhere in the world, and find someone from Ireland. Or somebody that knows someone from Ireland. For no other race on earth can such a claim be made. They were in good company. Our journey and eventually my day here today must recognize those from Ireland who were the Patron Saints of the Parade, the founders and sponsors who, without their journeys, all this wouldn’t be. These were the folks I remember who showed up every year. John Corcoran, Frank Leavy, Howard Adams, Father Joe Gillespie, Jimmy O’Conner. The First entry in that parade was Owen Keating, Jon Abberton and Johnny Maye, my Father, John Hogan, and St. Patrick. (well, he looked like St. Patrick, so there!,. There were many that came and went, and their efforts are lost to history, but these were the starting six. This parade has survived: struggles with consistencies, inconsistencies, finances, some politics, and even immature claims of ownership and the like. Yet, here we are number 41.
How do I know that? Well, I was there. For all of it.
The roll call of participants has it all: the famous, a Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Conner, a few mayors, a Senator, John McCain, a congressman or three, a Sherriff and then another Sherriff, a Governor who got her hair done at Dairy Queen, some, infamous, some with their own Bobblehead figures, a few, n’er do wells, some that saw the inside of a prison cell, some Saints, some scholars and a lot of spirited Irish contributors. And me. But more on that later.
Immigrants-the backbone and soul of this parade,-from Ireland- are unique in that over 90% of those that left Ireland, never returned. They stayed where they landed. America for sure, but also Australia, the mines of South Africa, and even Mexico where the words “there go the Greens, the de Los Patricos” became “gringos”.
Our parade and it’s various committee’s, drives, music Feis festivals and half way parties, suffered from the opposite: of the %90 that were drawn to the flames, only about 10% remained, through it all. Parades are tough, they require meetings, sometimes money out of the organizers and volunteer’s pockets to pay for a permit here, a license there.
There’s also good sponsors and sometime a bad one, (what do you mean it’s this Saturday?) There’s also the need to control and no shortage of comfy shoes on the concrete. Thanks be to God for Fr. Joe Gillespie and his St. Gregory’s Parish, and the small desks and even smaller chairs that offered us hope. Also, blessings to Frank Leavy who, when asked if he could donate enough to cover the insurance permit, donated $10, 000 (yes 10K) to save us from, well, ruin. John Corcoran, who, donated it all, money, spirit, his mail box, and Howard Adams who got us the Cultural center, saving us from a squatter’s sense at Partiot’s Park, to announce the Irish had arrived, for a second time. To all of those, I tip my green, peaky cap.
Who knows that the future holds? If the Chinese are right, and believe that wealth only lasts three generations, we have one generation left to sustain the wealth of this parade. That starts today. And it starts with the New Six: Mary Wnek, Jeff Aspland, Mallory Melton, Randy McNamara, Maureen Cionci, and Ciara Archer
I need names here! Oh, and me, how did I get here? In 1980 I went to Europe to play basketball. Not the jackpot it is today, but, it paid the bills. After stops in the Netherlands, France and England, I found my self in Dublin, and then Cork twice, in 80, 81 and 82 playing in the St. Patrick’s day tournaments which coincidentally required players to march in each year’s parade. Despite the fact that it rained each year, I survived. When I returned to the states for a life of considerably less glamour, I was drafted by John Corcoran to help with the parade. That first day at Durant’s as we gathered, it was 80 degrees. I remarked that if the weather in Ireland was 80 degrees, they would have to cancel it. No such luck. And off we went. The rest is history.
Blessings, and Slainte. To your health now go and enjoy yourself. Oh, and if you want to hear more stories, you can offer to buy me a drink. I’ll be easy to spot. I am the last one of them standing.
Sincerely Mike Hogan, Official Parade Historian (for now, anyway)
