St Patricks Day Specialities

Anniversary sale promotions

More than once annually

Nowadays, retail businesses are much like a young girl with her first boyfriend who celebrates anniversaries beginning with the first week of the relationship. While business owners aren’t quite that bad they do take every opportunity to boost sales through anniversary sales for everything from Founder’s Day to each year the company has been in business. Chain stores also use the anniversary of individual stores and tie in the entire company in anniversary promotions.

Anniversary sales do produce results and as time passes retailers will think of more and more ways to justify working them into their promotion schedule.

Anniversaries are also an excellent opportunity for organizations, profit and non-profit, to run membership drives. It is simpler to entice members when you can point to a period of time the organization has been in operation. This speaks to its success, the good work it has done and a sense of permanency for the future.

As a small business owner, you can benefit dramatically from anniversary promotions. These promotions are an opportunity to tell your customer base and those within your marketing area that you are still in business while showcasing your products and giving them a reason—in the form of a deal—to attend the anniversary event.

It is a good idea to include some showmanship during the promotion. Depending on the type of business you operate you could do anything from a drawing for prizes to a parking lot sale. Many small businesses set up and operate a small carnival with games and activities geared to kids. The kids, of course, bring your target customer of mom and dad with them.

Imagination is the key and as long as the promotional activities are in good taste, almost anything goes.

Enjoy an adult Saint Patrick's party

Forget the green beer

Most people grow up at one point or another and realize that a night of mixing Guinness and Jell-O shots with loud music and late hours is more of a threat to older bodies and family life than it was when they were in college. It starts to make a lot more sense to be able to remember tomorrow all the fun you had today. In order to do this, it’s necessary to rethink and then redesign the basic plan of the Saint Patrick’s Day party.

The Irish are a people as much capable of class, as the rest of the world is capable of depicting them as devoid of it. It’s not a critical part of the plan to get snot-nose drunk, lose your car along with the contents of your stomach and to wake up wondering what stupid things you may have done every time the phone rings during the next day.

Plan a party that will be attended by those whom you invite and not a bunch of crashers. Make it an all afternoon affair with people coming and going. Serve some Irish whiskies in shot glasses and Irish beers in frosted mugs. Have plenty of Irish style food available: a large, simmering pot of Irish potato and leek soup, a baked potato bar with lots of toppings and of course standard offerings such as chicken wings and pizza.

Uplifting Irish music as well as hauntingly beautiful Celtic songs creates an atmosphere where guests can actually hear each other talk and respond in kind.

Finish the night off with Bailey’s and coffee. Send everyone home feeling good in the morning, about not having to feel bad about the night before.

The Day After

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day

We all love St. Patrick’s Day because it gives us an opportunity to party in the middle of March, perhaps the deadest time of year as far as serious celebrations go. Sure, you have Valentine’s Day and Easter bookending St. Pat’s Day, but come on; these are not “throw your hat in the air”, yell bloody murder and elbow your way to the bar kind of occasions.

That’s the good thing about St. Patrick’s Day. As with all things good, there is also a bad thing about the holiday. The 17^th of March hits on all days of the week, depending on the year. This of course means that your desire to “let the dogs loose” is tempered by the fact that you will either wake up (or not) the next morning with several decisions staring you in the face.

Go to work. Taking a day off after St. Pat’s Day is the same as notifying your boss that you prefer participating in a raging drunken party to representing him and his company in a responsible and productive manner. He will trust any excuse you give about as far as a cat can crap a walnut.
Go to church. It’s the Lords day and your familial responsibility is to face the pulpit with your family tightly bunched and close behind and accept the teaching and judgment of the Lord. This means social interaction with the holy men and fellow members of the congregation who will be examining you for telltale signs of dissolution and depravity. After all, you probably have a record of such conduct.
Stay in bed. When St. Pat’s Day falls on Friday you can sleep all day on Saturday, right? Highly unlikely, especially if you are married and more especially if you have kids. Saturday is the universal day for getting up early with the wife, going for a drive and having some “together time.” Then you come home, tend to the business of keeping the household and vehicles in running order and barbecue outside in the evening. It’ll be a dark week ahead for you if you deprive the wife of her “together time” by sprawling in bed slobbering, snoring and producing nothing but methane gas all day. If you have kids, multiply the activities expected and the penalties for not doing them by a factor of 10.

Hey dude, Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

How the Irish Do It

St. Paddy's Day in On the Emerald Isle

Over 4 million Irish men and women currently inhabit the Emerald Isle. Each and every one of them begin celebrating St. Patrick’s Day one week before the actual holiday, just as their ancestors have done for the last 1,000 years. The beginning of the celebration signals the lifting of the Lenten restrictions on the consumption of alcohol and the dietary restrictions that are in place during the rest of the Lenten season.

Parades, folk dances, street festivals and singing are common during the week of celebration in Dublin and other towns such as Downpatrick, the home of St. Patrick’s tomb.

Children wear badges of orange-symbolizing the people of the north, and green that represents the people of the South, with white in the middle that symbolizes the peace that binds the Irish people together.

Irish women and young girls wear green ribbons in their hair—green is the color associated with the Emerald Isle—just as they have for generations.

Men wear plenty of green during the week of celebration.

The myth surrounding the fabled “four-leaf clover” is that the first leaf is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck. Don’t spend too much time looking for a four-leaf clover; some estimates put the ratio of three-leaf clovers 10,000 to one in relation to four-leaf clovers.

The street festival and parade of fancy floats in Dublin is the largest celebration in Ireland on March 17^th. Street performers, carnivals, parades, delicious Irish delicacies and elaborately costumed celebrants fill the streets.

Of course, Irish beers flow freely and the celebration goes deeply into the night.

Company Hosted Saint Patrick's Day Party

Relieve Employee Stres

Suggest a Saint Patrick’s Day party for your place of employment. Obviously, this program is best for smaller companies. However, even in larger companies, the parties can be conducted by department instead of total company. There are many advantages to the company hosting a party to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day.

Saint Patrick’s Day falls between the last big celebration of New Year’s Day and The Fourth of July. That’s a long stretch between good fun, at a time of the year that is stressful due to tax season and lower sales and profits exhibited by most companies. Lower sales and profits generally translate to stress at the executive level which ultimately affects everyone else. A good party is a refreshing morale builder which improves the company’s performance.

The benefits of a party are even greater when the employees are the ones plan it after being given a budget to adhere to.

This is a good opportunity for the employees to ask the executives to join in the fun. Whether the employees involve the executives by including them in some skits, or taking some ideas from late night comedians such as the top ten countdown or Saturday Night Live standup routines, it’s a lot of fun for the employees.

When Saint Patrick’s Day falls on a weekday the company would close down an hour early and let the party run at least until 7:00PM. The idea here is to cut down on the remaining time in the evening for a private party at which alcohol is served.

Serve lots of food; ask the employees to bring their favorite dishes and also plan for the company to have additional food catered.

Serve non-alcoholic beer if the H.R. department is in agreement, or simply serve green punch and soft drinks.

When Saint Patrick’s Day falls on a weekend, the company would host the party on Friday.

Treat your employees to a good time and show that you care.

Homemade Leprechaun Costume

Make It At Home

My wife and I have two girls, five and seven years of age. They were invited to an afterschool St. Paddy’s Day Party and needed some great costumes to wear. My thought was to simply go to the closest discount store and pick up the usual leprechaun hat and maybe a green plastic costume. However, my wife and sister-in-law had other ideas. They said the green plastic costumes were not only pathetically thin and cheap, but undoubtedly many of the other kids would be dressed in them. They decided to make the kid’s costumes themselves even though by night the time before the party was very short.

This is what they did for each of the girls, they:

Assembled leprechaun hats made from green poster board. This was a simple process of using one sheet of poster board to roll up and staple together a cylinder to serve as the top of the hat. The wide brim was made from another sheet of poster board and stapled around the bottom of the cylinder. Black marker was used to draw a hat band around the bottom of the cylinder on the outside. The girls then made a buckle from yellow poster board and glued it to the black band in the front of the hat.
Found a cotton T-shirt, pair of white cotton shorts and a long pair of cotton tube socks that fit the kids.
Dyed the clothing at the same time and after drying; each article was the exact same color.
Made a belt—that fit the girl’s waists perfectly with little slack—from a strip of heavy cloth and dyed it black. They then made gold buckles from the remnants of the yellow poster board.
Picked out an older pair of ankle-high tennis shoes and repeatedly dyed them until they were deep black, including the laces.

Once the girls were dressed out, they looked great in their Leprechaun outfits. The best things about it are that the costumes were made quickly and cheaply and the whole family got involved in the project.

It also taught me and the kids a lesson that it isn’t necessary to run to the store and spend a lot of money when you can accomplish the same thing on your own.

Saint Patrick's Day Irish Fare Feast

Corned Beef and Cabbage-Ugh!

We love corned beef and cabbage, but every year, get real! Throw a dinner party and absolutely astound your guests with traditional Irish fare other than the standard corned beef and cabbage. They will be so relieved when they find out about the new menu for the evening that the party will start right there.

Your non-Irish friends and most of the Irish ones are not even aware that other Irish foods exist. Play a drinking game to kick things off by having guests name Irish foods. Don’t worry; no-one will get snockered early because the group as a whole won’t be able to name more than three Irish foods, if that. Think about it, when is the last time you passed by Mexican and Italian restaurants on your way to an Irish restaurant to tank up on good old Irish cuisine. Maybe another drinking game would be to name three Irish restaurants, or even one.

Despite all this, there are many delicious Irish foods and the novelty of them—since your guests are not aware that they exist—will make the dinner party even more enjoyable and more of a conversation topic later on.

You do need to plan ahead and if you’re not a cook, it would be best to have the food catered or at least purchased from a restaurant to which you supply the recipes.

Irish Soda Bread

In the 1800’s Ireland did not raise meaningful quantities of the hard red winter wheat that produced higher protein flour necessary for making quality bread. Therefore, breadmaking was not particularly advanced as in most of Europe. The introduduction of baking soda was met with great acceptance because it worked well with the softer Irish flour to produce a reliable rise of the loaf in the oven while making delicious bread.

Soda bread was also popular because it was made with very basic ingredients that were widely available for most people. The ingredients are flour, buttermilk, baking soda and salt: the buttermilk and baking soda combine to produce carbon dioxide bubbles causing the salted mixture to rise. The bread is heavy and hearty and for your St. Patrick’s Day feast can be made more flavorful by the addition of raisins soaked in whisky. Spread the bread with good Irish butter.

Potato and Leek Soup

This hearty and soul-comforting soup is not too difficult to make for a novice and no trick at all for someone who is experienced in the kitchen. The flavor is creamy and delicious with a thick heavy texture that makes it simple to appreciate every single spoonful.

You should plan on a leisurely dinner with time between courses. Potato and leek soup served with Irish soda bread is almost a meal within itself. Keep the portions small, place the hot platter of soda bread and the steaming pot of soup on the table so the guests can decide if they want more.

Shepherd’s Pie

Remember, Ireland can be a damp and cold country throughout many months of the year. Irish food tends to be heavy and filling as befits the climate. Most Irish food is true comfort food, bursting with flavor and satisfying to the appetite.

Shepherd’s Pie is a combination of cubed or ground beef cooked with potatoes and vegetables and simmered on the stovetop in a rich brown sauce. It is then topped with mashed potatoes in peaks and swirls. The pot is pushed into the oven and the mashed potatoes are toasted to a golden brown.

St. Patrick's Classic Celebration

Celebrate with the Saint

When celebrating an event as popular and downright enjoyable as St. Patrick’s day it is generally forgotten—or not known in the first place—that the celebration has a purpose and in this case, a noble one.

St. Patrick lived in Ireland from 431 AD to 461 AD, dying on March 17^th. He was famous throughout Ireland for converting pagan clans to Christianity. St. Patrick is also credited—according to legend—for driving the snakes from Ireland. The snakes symbolized evil and this feat became part of St. Patrick legacy and lore.

Wherever there are Irish there are celebrations honoring this saint and the good that he brought to Ireland. Even where there are no Irish, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated simply because it makes for a really good party.

In America there are more people of Irish descent than there are in Ireland itself. Europe is also teeming with the Irish as are many other countries around the world. Few events of a country the size of Ireland are celebrated as widely and with as much enthusiasm as St. Patrick’s Day.

Celebrate by attending a parade and get into the St. Patrick’s Day mood immediately. Wherever you live is likely to have at least one parade. If not, organize one yourself, you’ll attract more volunteers and sightseers than you ever dreamed.

Make plans to spend time in an Irish pub to listen to great entertainment, sip on a glass of Guinness and sample some delicious Irish whiskies. The plans must include a safe way to get home after the festivities. Remember, pub crawls are highly entertaining, but must be conducted safely as you travel from one to another and then to home.

Of course, throwing a St. Patrick’s Day party at home is always a good idea. Your friends appreciate the chance to get together socially without having to “get out amongst them, the public.” Get volunteers to help set it up and clean up. Even have a “pot of gold” bucket for donations as the guests enter the house to defray the cost of the food and beverages. Offer green beer and allow the guests to bring their own Irish whiskies such as Jameson, Bushmills and Tullamore Dew.

Be prepared to give an Irish Toast to end the festivities. Treat the guests to a round of rhymes, limericks and blessings, perhaps with different people contributing. Don’t worry about how long it may take; the Irish are accustomed to long toasts.

Best St. Patricks Day Party Ever

How to Pull Off a Party

Back when I was single and lived in an apartment complex we would have pool parties from time to time and it seemed as though the whole complex attended them. The manager was on board as long as we didn’t use glass bottles and everybody conducted themselves properly.

However, I must say the last year I lived there was the best St. Patrick’s Day party of my life.

I, along with the party regulars from years past decided to forego the pool and hold our party in the apartment complex social center where we had more latitude to celebrate without bothering the other tenants.

I was between jobs at the time and therefore was given the task of planning the party since everyone else was working. I think I did a good job by following these steps:

I met with the apartment manager, gave him a run-down on what why we were going indoors with the party. He approved.
I reserved the social center for the entire day and night of St. Patrick’s Day.
I met with the principal members of “party’s past” and we decided that each apartment tenant could bring two “outside” guests. In this way we held the guest list down and exerted some control. At this time, there were parties being crashed by hooligans with dire results and lots of drama. We decided to hire two security guards to work the doors, a move which was heartily approved by the apartment manager.
I inspected the social center and determined that it would easily accommodate the projected number of guests. However, it would be necessary to rent enough chairs to give everyone an opportunity to sit when desired.
I arranged for several tenants to set up a sound system for music.
I called the party store and arranged for green beer in kegs to be delivered the afternoon of the party along with ice and tubs to put the kegs into.
I posted, with management approval, signs (decorated with shamrocks, leprechauns and a pot of gold) in the laundry room and on the doors leading into the on-site bar, game room and manager’s office. These notices outlined the rules that all attendees had to abide by.
- number of guests
- $2.00 door charge
- bring a snack or prepared dish to use as refreshments for everyone
- Everyone help to pick up trash and put the social center back in order as they leave
I made the decision on my own to charge each attendee $2.00 at the door. This added up to quite a sum (I don’t remember how much). The door charge would pay for the beer with some left over.
I wanted everyone to really get into the St. Patrick’s Day celebration spirit, so I also stated on the signs that I posted that the top three best costumes would receive a cash prize.
The party began without a hitch and continued into the night. When everyone had a change to socialize with everyone else and look over their costumes, we began the judging. As each entrant walked across in front of the crowd the other guests would applaud loudly for their choice. We picked three winners in this fashion. I should note that the first prize winner was an attractive woman wearing green body paint with very little else.

Everyone knew everyone else at our party and arranging games was not necessary. On this particular night we had no problems with unwanted guests, but the security guards gave us peace of mind to enjoy the party.

Incidentally, as the guests left they picked up a garbage bag, filled it with bottles, etc. and threw it in the dumpster once they were outside nobody complained.

It’s great to have a plan that comes together.

A Bit of the Texas Irish

Celebrating the Irish in Cowtown

I work for a company that operates supermarkets in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Our company has always paid lip service to Saint Patrick’s Day by offering ads featuring corned beef in our meat market and cabbage in our fresh produce department.

Several years ago we decided to see how many true Irish customers we could attract. We knew that New York, Boston and other cities along the East Coast were heavily populated with the Irish, but we were unsure how many were imbedded in the population of the Southwest.

We designed a companywide promotion originating from our headquarters in Dallas, Texas. We decided that leading up to the big day our delicatessens would feature the classic Irish corned beef and cabbage dinner and Reuben sandwiches as sit down meals in our dining rooms. The delicatessens would also offer take-out meals and cater large events off-premise with the Irish delicacies.

The meat market and produce department sampled out corned beef and cabbage and each department also conducted cooking demonstrations for customers.

Every store employee—up to 200 total on all shifts—were required to dress “Irish” and a contest featuring three $200 prizes of store credit was offered for the best, most imaginative and most original costumes. The employees loved the opportunity to dress differently as well as the opportunity to win some groceries purchased with the prize of store credit.

Of course, the store was fully decorated in an Irish theme although the biggest change came with our week advertising flyer. The entire ad—six pages total—was given over to Saint Patrick’s Day with every item in every department pertaining to the holiday. This was an expensive and huge gamble for a retailer to make because each weeks sales are determined by the strength of the weekly advertising flyer. The odds of getting our total customer base to buy into the Saint Patrick’s Day theme were unknown.

For that reason, we decided to hedge our bet and go all out. Each store director was instructed to rope off a large portion of their parking lot to serve as site for a Saint Patrick’s Day celebration. Tents were erected; popular Irish dishes were cooked and sampled heavily throughout the day. Game booths featuring prizes for the kids were put into play. Each store director contacted Irish organizations who specialized in singing haunting songs and ballads and danced Irish Jigs. We encouraged our customers to dress “Irish” and join the fun.

The customers did join the fun creating a tremendously successful Saint Patrick’s Day promotion. We proved that taking a chance is a good strategy as long as it is backed by sound planning and execution.

We also proved that there is plenty of the “Irish Green” in the Southwest!