Your pot o’ gold lies in the future
It should be a St. Patrick’s Day parade like no other.
The Martin City Business and Community Association has announced the theme for this year’s parade as “Geared for the Future.” Leading the parade will be Gary Fish, founder of Fishtech, and his robot assistant Pepper. Both are the official Grand Marshals of the Martin City St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
“I am very honored to have been chosen to be Grand Marshal for the annual St. Patties Day parade in Martin City,” says Fish. “Besides just having our company located in Martin City our goal was to become integrated into the city and what better way to be involved than participating in this annual event.”
Fish, an avid collector of cars, plans to marshal in the event sitting in one of his cars. “I haven’t decided which one yet,” he says.
The new group of MCBCA board members this year is made up primarily of young representatives from the technology-based companies in Martin City. It is led by Nilson Goes, Jr. of Infinite Energy Construction. “For our theme this year we wanted to incorporate technology,”he says.. “So we thought Gary would be a good representative of that.”
The parade will be held Sunday, March 11 starting at 2 p.m. and will begin at State Line Rd. and continue along 135th Street to Holmes Rd.
The celebration kicks off with the annual Whiskey Run 5K at 8:30 a.m. This year the race has a new sponsor: local whiskey distillery J. Rieger & Co. which will have a shot station set up at the race.
In the past, dogs, children, and floats participated in contests based on the theme. This year it will be float contests only. “We wanted to keep it simple,” says Goes. The MCBCA is encouraging school robotics and technology teams to enter, as well as companies and organizations that want to showcase innovative products, services and initiatives.
Prizes for best floats range from $400 to $100 as well as gift cards and certificates. The deadline to enter is February 23. To find more information or to become a sponsor of the event, contact Martin City Community Improvement District director Tiffany Moore at 816-308-1023 or check out the website at martincity.org.