Lake San Marcos Yacht Club St. Patrick's Day

Always held on "The Day", this is a celebration not to be missed and this year was better than ever. First of all, it was about 80 degrees with clear-as-a-bell skies. The lake was calm, the boats were decorated and we had libations--it is after all a celebration of the Irish. Once again, fate caught us unprepared and we never made it out of Mall IV on the Alexander's boat.  And this was after Don and I spent the morning painstakingly decorating it within an inch of its life. (Norma is responsible for a lot of these photos as I spent most of the time with the video camera for this event.)

She truly would have been the most beautiful boat out there...if she'd made it.

On board, the First Mate, our beautiful hostess, Carol.

Dian and Art, ready to go.

Eli and Tink in front of the spread of hors d'oeuvres that could have been (and should have been) supper.

To save the day, Tom got his boat and brought it across the lake.  We transferred ourselves, the food and liquor on board "Tom's Time Out" and squeezed into the parade---undecorated.  Norma took this picture of us.  I'm sitting on the front, taking a picture of Norma.

The Brennan's, an obvious Irish moniker, in their gaily decorated boat.

Bob and Janet Warren's boat, "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere".

Debra Olsen on Heide and Dave's boat.

Gene on the Parade Marshall's boat, the notorious "Branch Office".

Ed and Georgiana Burkart waved from the balcony of their home.  Ed is a former Commodore of the Yacht Club.

Captain Don and Captain Tom share boating adventure stories, of which we seem to have more than enough.

The gang at the Kreutzberg's table---Rich and Sharon La Farge, Carol and Tony Caruso, Harry and Sue Bubnack and Joan Graves.

That's me in between Bill Hotz and a friend.

A cute picture of Dian and Norma (she has a feathered boa for every event).

Dave, Heide and Fred enjoyed the day.

Jeannine and Dennis looking very Irish.

A table decorated with Irish potatoes.  Very clever.

That's Florrie with Joe and Mary Anne.

                                  

The Kreutzbergs, Pat an Don.  Don't you just love that hat?

A real classic of Norma.  This should end up on her next birthday card.

Lois Jarvinen with her friend, Russ in a bold bow-tie.

Our Commodore, Bruce Seiler with our Vice Commodore, Bob Warren, and Joe Serrato in a green metallic wig.  You can't overdo anything with the Yacht Club.

Renate and Edgar, who were Irish for the day, with Joan Graves, who is Irish everyday.

A really incredible shot I got of the swans who followed us everywhere.  You could never take a picture like this if you really tried.

Don't miss the video below.  The highlight of the evening was all the men singing "Danny Boy".  Unforgettable.

Lake San Marcos Fishing and Casting Club St. Patrick's Dance

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 was the date of the recent St. Patty's event celebrated by The Fishing and Casting Club. It's one of the oldest organizations at the lake and the parties are always very well attended.

Jim and Nancy Broach are great dancers.

Everyone was very happy to see Tony and Francee Colace.

Darlene Aiken never misses a chance to flash an
"Irish" smile.

Charlene Schlaline even went so far as the dye her hair green and Gene wore shamrock "tattoos" on his cheek.

Lori and Jim Brennan were there to have a good time.

Harry Bubnack, the current President of the club, with his wife, Sue.

Axel and Terry Steiner travel quite a bit so everyone was glad they were in town for this event.

Jan and Lowell Weight are long time residents of the lake. Notice her fancy green nail polish.

Pat Jordan and Vern Peckham really enjoyed dancing to the music of "Our Song".

Oscar Zoebisch, who just celebrated his 90th birthday, brought his beautiful wife, Virginia.

Lois Jarvinen, who's lived at the lake for about 4 decades, brought her friend, Russ Merriken.

Juanita Reep and Les Moore always have a good time together.

Don't miss the video below. Just click on the white arrow in the center.

Revist of Past Lake San Marcos St. Patrick's Day Celebrations

Of course, St. Patrick's Day is a perfect opportunity here for an eleborate celebration...with, as the Irish would want it, plenty of alcohol .  It starts in the afternoon with a boat parade organized by the Yacht Club and continues with a dinner/dance at the Lakeside Pavilion.  To warm us up for the 2010 festivities, I have assembled some photos from year's past for your enjoyment.

We start with 2007. 

Jesse Hogan photographs the parade from atop his floating bicycle with one of his pals on board.

The "Branch Office", captained by Dennis Wittmayer, was designated the Parade Marshall.  He's just the person to set the mood for the event.  That's Jeannine taking a photo of our boat.

The Hawker's boat.  You've recently seen that before in another post elaborately decorated as Santa's Workshop. 

On the boat in front of us a set of twins appeared in the parade with their Mom and Dad.

In 2008 we were invited to join John and Barb Lee. That's John Andrew, Katie and Eli boarding with food and alcohol for the long, arduous voyage around the lake. 

Norma and Ken (with a blowup leprechaun) watched the parade from their patio.  I think that's Eula Hobbs also in the picture.  Sadly, she is no longer with us.

Heide and Dave are on the "Cat's Meow".

The infamous "Branch Office" from another perspective.  That's Gene and Evie on board as well.

George and Kathy Haney watched the parade from on shore.

My absolute favorite shot of Katie...in her stylish shamrock sunglasses.

At the party, Pierce and Florrie Clifford (who are really Irish, as in they were actually born in Ireland) enjoy the evening with Mary Lynch.  Florrie always does an Irish jig for the party.  I'll try to get video of it this year.

This is 2009 and all my parade shots came from Nancy Campbell because we, if you will recall from an earlier post, never made it away from the dock due to an engine malfunction.  Nancy was a professional photographer and has the most fabulous camera.

Love the sign.

This is Nancy's photo of the Kreutzberg's table.  That's a woman with a stein of beer on her head.  We are rarely very subtle here.

The ladies from the Lee's boat.

The men from the Lee's boat.

We don't seem too upset about not being in the parade, do we?

Stay tuned for video and photos from the 2010 event when we are on Don and Carol Alexander's boat.  He was formerly in the U.S. Coast Guard and is one of the best yachtsmen on the lake.