The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 2

www.pantagraph.com A2 The Pantagraph Monday, March 18, 2013 Flick fact 5 ft some Guinness!" declared one banner on the parade route displayed by John Mullen, a 46 -year-old lawyer, and his 17-year-old son, Jack. The senior Mullen, whose roots lie in the western county of Mayo, said he and his boy actually were golfing their way through Ireland, not drinking. He said the key to enjoying Ireland was to soak up the locals' exceptionally good conversation regardless of the weather. "Yesterday we got rained on, sleeted on, snowed on as we golfed. There was even some sun here and there.

It was four seasons in one round," Mullen said. "People back home say I've got the gift of the gab, but I've got no game here. The conversations here are magnificent. But you sometimes wonder how you're ever going to get out of them! In the world's first major St. Patrick's party Sunday, about 30,000 spectators soaked up the sun as Sydney's Irish -Australians paraded through the city.

Australia always marks St. Patrick's Day on a Sunday. After the event, partiers rallying at the city's Hyde Park saw 45 Irish men and women receive Australian citizenship. That's increasingly common as tens of thousands of Irish job-seekers have made Australia a favored new home while Ireland's own economy remains in the PARADE FROM Al struggling with 14 percent unemployment, heavy emigration and a household -debt crisis following the 2008 collapse of its Celtic Tiger boom. St.

Patrick's Day always marks the start of Ireland's full-court press for tourists. Since 1997 Dublin has expanded the holiday into a multi-day festival featuring special children's playgrounds, street amusement parks, concerts and walking tours. Irish President Michael D. Higgins is hosting a nationally televised TV show tonight featuring many of Ireland's top artists and musicians, including Bono and Nobel-winning poet Seamus Heaney. "We cherish the creativity, community spirit and rich culture for which we, as a nation, are renowned," Higgins said in a speech after the parade.

"I have said on many occasions that while the experience of the so-called Celtic Tiger failed to live up to the best versions of Irishness, we have not been failed by our artists. In fact, our artists are a huge moral resource and great reputational asset for Ireland." St. Patrick's Day is being marked in skylines across the world as part of a global campaign to floodlight landmarks green at night. This year the pyramids of Associated PressSHAWN POGATCHNIK Spectators watch the St. Patrick's Day parade Sunday in Dublin.

Never mind the fickle Irish weather a chilly, damp Dublin celebrated St. Patrick's Day with artistic flair as the focal point for a weekend of Irish celebrations worldwide. I can group that bans women from attending. Most of Irish-America marked the holiday a day early, reflecting the view that such a notoriously boozy holiday shouldn't happen on a Sunday. But the Irish diaspora in most of the rest of the world stuck to marking St.

Patrick's Day on March 17 as usual. Many of Sunday's revelers suggested they were in Dublin specifically to soak up the pub atmosphere. "We came all the way from Kansas City to drink iWhen Giza, the leaning tower of Pisa, Niagara Falls, and the Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking Rio are among dozens of iconic spots going green for the occasion. While tens of thousands of foreigners have made a. beeline for Dublin, practically the entire Irish government has gone the other direction, sending 19 ministers to 21 countries to capitalize on a marketing opportunity unique among nations.

Prime Minister Enda Kenny marched in Satur Lit ,1 I 1 most consumers turn to the newspaper for their coupons. it comes to Pmtaeranh Puhtishinp C.n day's biggest U.S. parade in New York and is scheduled to meet President Obama at the White House on Tuesday, when the U.S. political establishment marks the Irish holiday. It hasn't all gone smoothly.

The government deputy leader, Foreign Minister Ea-mon Gilmore, caused diplomatic waves in Atlanta, by snubbing the second -biggest American parade in nearby Savannah because, Gilmore said, he didn't want to attend a dinner hosted by an Irish -Ameri 'V! out any kind of facilities." "I'm pretty honored about" the award, added Panno, a retired district manager for an insurance company. "It's nice to know that people appreciate what we did." is .1.3 Published dailv hv Question: It was 38 years ago tonight that television aired what TV Guide now calls the 20th best TV episode of all time from its list of "Television's Top 100 Episodes Of All Time" -and it got especially high ratings in Bloomington. Do you know why? Answer below How time flies 100 years ago March 18, 1913: The Hackney Auto Plow Company has opened a distribution point in Bloomington. They will have offices and a display room in the new Bowman building. Hackney is based in St.

Paul. Minn. 75 years ago March 18, 1938: The YMCA band is rehearsing for a number of appearances this season. Thirty-seven musicians make up the band. They wear attractive white and black uniforms.

The band director is A V. Manskey, assisted by H. R. Reimann. 50 years ago March 18, 1963: So far the city has made $300 from sale of furniture left in the old city hall.

The odds and ends included desks, chairs and file cabinets none of them too pretty. At the next sale, recovered stolen items will be offered, mostly bicycles. 25 years ago March 18, 1988: A real estate lady, name not given, was photographing a house when she saw a burglary in progress on East Grove Street. So she carefully snapped a picture of the crime as it went down. Police caught two suspects.

Charges are expected. Compiled by Jack Keefe jkeefecbhoa.com HTF appears on the Opinion pages Tuesday-Sunday. Daily digest Honor night returns to Springfield on March 26 BLOOMINGTON Several Pantagraph-area residents and their guardians witi be among 85 Illinois veterans on the 19th Land of Lincoln Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. The public is invited to a welcome-home ceremony at 9:30 p.m. March 26 at Abraham Lincoln Capitol Airport in Springfield, wearing red.

white and blue. The flights take World War II, Korean-era and Vietnam veterans to Washington, D.C, for a one-day visit to war memorials. The flights are free for veterans. The program is supported by donations. State watch Suburban Chicago officer charged in fatal crash CHICAGO -A judge set bail at $500,000 on Sunday for a suburban Chicago police officer accused of causing a traffic accident that killed two people in a wrong-way collision on Chicago's Lake Shore Drive.

LOTTERY Sunday's results My 3 2- 8-7 5-2-2 Pick 3 1-2-6 0-7-7 Pick 4 3- 6-5-9 6-1-4-5 Lucky Day Lotto 3-4-6-10-29 Lotto jackpot $4.7 million Mega Millions jackpot $13 million Powerball jackpot $260 million Answer On March 18, 1975, was aired on CBS the episode of "MASH" in which Lt. Col. Henry Blake (actor McLean Stevenson) gets a discharge from the 4077th to "go back to Bloomington" but his plane goes down. Stevenson actually did grow up in Bloomington and often referred to it on "MASH." ADDRESSES Main Office: 301 Washington P.O. Box 2907.

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Washington P.O. Box 2907, Bloomington, IL 61702-2907. Periodicals postage paid at Bloomington. IL 61701 For The Pantagraph Joseph Panno poses for a photograph shortly after the end of World War II in 1945. "It's nice to know that people appreciate what we did." Joseph Panno Streator veteran being awarded the French Legion of Honor AWARD FROM Al for outstanding service to France.

He heard about his eligibility through a division newsletter and contacted French authorities. Liz Mannebach, press attache with the French consulate in Chicago, said the requirement for the medal was that a person saw combat against the Nazis. She said fewer than 150 World War II veterans in her 13-state district have met the criteria in the last two years. Those still alive have been given the medal, often with a ceremony to mark the ocr casion, if their health allows. Streator tourism director and council member Ed Brozak said city leaders and possibly a French immi -grant to Streator after the war will present the award at 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday at City Hall. "The Legion of Honor medal is France's highest honor," said Mannebach. "There is nothing higher that they can award to any French or foreign person." After World War II, the French decided Americans met that standard. The problem was that most American soldiers did not realize they qualified. Panno lives in the city in which he grew up.

He and wife, Ann Marie, raised two children. Panno met his division as it was still fighting its way through Normandy and its notorious hedgerows POPE FROM Al apartment is ready. "The pope is down-to-earth. He is a people person and it is amazing," said Emanuel Anatsui from Britain. "He is going to do wonderfully for the church." After Mass, Francis again put his security detail to the test as he waded into an intersection just outside St.

Anna's Gate. Francis stepped up to the crowd, grasping outstretched hands. The atmosphere was so casual that several people even gripped Francis on the shoulder. "Francesco! Francesco!" children shouted his name in Italian. As he patted one little boy on the head, he asked "Are you a good boy?" and the child nodded.

"Are you sure?" the pope quipped. At one point he glanced at his watch and turned to an 20496182 icyuiJ I he Pantagraph (USPS 144760) WS "where you couldn't see 10 feet in front of you," he said. Eventually his unit was shipped by boxcar to Belgium. "I don't know what's worse," he said, "walking or those 2'2 days riding with aide as if to ask "How much time do I have The pope then ducked back inside the Vatican's boundaries to dash upstairs for the address to St. Peter's Square.

Often abandoning the prepared text in his hand, Francis told the crowd that he wanted to talk about mercy, saying he was inspired by a book about forgiveness that he was reading. Citing the author, an elderly German cardinal, and praising him as a "top-notch" theologian, Francis quipped: "Don't think I'm making publicity for my cardinals books drawing a roar of laughter from the crowd. Francis said mercy can "change the world" and make it "less cold and more just." He spoke only in Italian -ending with "Buon pranzo" (Have a good lunch) a wish that triggered nods of approval from the crowd..