SIDNEY — On an average day, there isn’t a lot going on in Sidney, Ark., but the Saturday after St. Patrick’s Day, the small town buzzes with people from all over.
“Our town has just faded away,” former Sidney Mayor Gwen Battles said.
The only thing that is left is a post office and a cafe, said Battles, who was Sidney’s mayor for 15 years.
A town with a population of less than 200, Sidney’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration began in 1958. Battles said that Tressie and Henry Kirk are from Sidney, but lived in various parts of the world because of Henry’s military career. When it came time to retire, the Kirks came back to Sidney, and along with what is now the Extension Homemakers Club, Tressie started the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
“She thought we needed some excitement, I guess,” Battles said with a laugh. “The E.H. Ladies tied green bows around their waists and marched up and down the street, and the next year, they invited their husbands for lunch.”
Well, the tradition stuck. Each year after that first parade, people gathered in the Community Center/City Hall building for lunch and made a day-long celebration of it.
Battles said as far as she knows, there is no Irish heritage in Sidney that lends itself to the history of the celebration. For more than 50 years, the celebration has been a homecoming of sorts. It is an opportunity for those who have moved from the town to come back and visit.
Carolyn Wommack of Batesville grew up in Sidney, and she said she believes that is what draws so many people back to see relatives who still live there.
“I have attended about every parade since I was the age of 6,” Wommack said. “My mom, the late Merle Griffin Matheny, was born and raised in Sidney. She was the daughter of the late Frank and Ruby Griffin. I enjoy attending the yearly event because I get to see people I knew while growing up or went to school with in Cave City.”
Tressie Kirk seems to have started a tradition that lives on.
“The older people who started it are all gone, and the younger people are [continuing the tradition], which I think is great,” Battles said. “We’ve even had [the celebration] in the snow.”
Battles said the parade and celebration have never been canceled or postponed, and it has never rained during the parade. A lunch consisting of Irish stew, pies and cakes and a drink is always served.
The celebration draws people from all over, including recognizable faces.
“I have my picture with [Bill] Clinton when he was governor,” Battles said. “There have been dignitaries here from everywhere.”
Vintage tractors also add to the festivities. A good number of tractors lined the street during the parade. Battles said the farmers like to see the old tractors.