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Til’ beads do us part

St. Paddy’s Day in Baton Rouge might as well be called an LSU game day. People drink early, tailgate all day, and get lost in the crowd.

Come 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 14, the Wearin’ of the Green parade rolls through the Hundred Oaks and Perkins Road area. For months, parade enthusiasts worried repairs to the Perkins Road overpass were going to hamper the annual street party. But construction has been delayed until a month after the parade.

Grand Marshal Dick Bourke of Dublin, Ireland, will preside over the bacchanalia, the fourth grand marshal brought over from the Old Country. “He’s a direct descendent of Mickey Hickey, one of the great revolutionary leaders of Ireland,” parade founder Pat Shingleton says.

And adding a note of panache and civility to the proceedings, a Baton Rouge couple will marry right before the parade, and then ride on their own float. Real estate agent Della Neely will wed body shop owner Don Stout in a ceremony that will be presided over by—who else?—Mayor Kip Holden.

“We’re going to wear matching bride and groom T-shirts—in white and green of course—jump on our float, and end the parade at our catered reception in The Caterie parking lot,” Neely says.

This year’s parade features 79 units, including bands, marching groups and about 45 to 50 bead-hurling floats.