St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by those wanting to share in Irish heritage, despite their own ancestry, and at Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks, there's no shortage of celebration.
With such a wide variety of events, including parades, dances and corned beef dinners, many Lake residents and guests could jumpstart festivities this weekend.
One of the most well-attended St. Patrick's Day events at the Lake is the annual Lake of the Ozarks St. Patrick's Parade along Bagnell Dam Boulevard.
Celebrating 31 years Saturday, thousands of residents and visitors from as far away as Iowa, Illinois and Kansas attended the parade watching nearly 100 floats, cars, boats, clowns, musicians, equestrians and others caravan toward Bagnell Dam.
This year's parade grand marshals were 2015 Community Impact Award recipients Bill Bassett, Bob Hatfield, Pete Leyva, Tiffany Riemann and Joe Roeger.
Along with the parade, Lake residents celebrated Saturday with the Eldon Park and Recreation's annual St. Patrick's Day 5K run/walk, the St. Patrick's Day Parade on the Water on the Lake's Westside and the fifth annual St. Patrick's Short Bus Shuffle where participants could enjoy a variety of live entertainment, giveaways and activities while being transported between 10 bars and restaurants.
Festivities continue today with the annual St. Patty's Day Open Golf Tournament at Osage National Golf Resort.
The three-person scramble tournament begins at 11 a.m. with a shotgun start. Breakfast will be served to participants and guests at 9 a.m. For more information or to register for this event, call 573-365-1950, ext. 10 or email [email protected].
The Shrine of St. Patrick's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade will be Tuesday.
Participants will meet at the Shrine at noon for line up. Step-off time is 1 p.m.
The parade will proceed with a police escort from the church parking lot down Missouri 5 through the town of Laurie and conclude at the Laurie Care Center, complete with Irish songs and balloons.
Anyone interested in participating in this parade, call 573-374-7855 or 573-374-8745.