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SF Irish Cultural Center: St. Patrick's Day celebrations
The United Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco is tuning up the Irish bagpipes and ready for the 175th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, and a weekend of events including a gala dinner honoring Irish American actor, Bret Iwan, who voices Disney's Mickey Mouse.
SAN FRANCISCO - The sound of Irish bagpipes will be filling the air in San Francisco this weekend.
The 175th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade kicks off Saturday at 11:30 a.m. on Market Street in San Francisco, followed by a celebration at Civic Center, and a post-party at the United Irish Cultural Center.
Fintan Reidy, a 7th grade bagpiper, is ready to march in the parade. He started learning three years ago at the United Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco, and will be performing through the weekend at the Center.
"It's exciting to play, and I like playing at events," Fintan said.
SF Bay Area Irish American history predates Gold Rush
Irish flags, tents, and tables are already set up for the weekend of events leading to St. Patrick's Day. The cultural center is a repository for many historic artifacts and treasures telling the story of Irish Americans in the West.
"The Irish have been in California since before CA was a state. They came during the Mexican period and, of course, after the Gold Rush, they flooded into San Francisco and California," Liam Reidy, Executive Director of the United Irish Cultural Center, said.
Reidy says the Bay Area is home to some 800,000 Irish Americans. Thousands are expected to celebrate in the city with the parade, Civic Center festivities, and pub crawls.
Honoring Irish American voice of Mickey Mouse
A gala dinner on Saturday night will honor a very special Irish American who has become famous worldwide for his voice.
Bret Iwan is half Irish, and is the voice actor behind Disney's beloved Mickey Mouse.
Iwan says he knows he has big shoes to fill. He is only the fourth person to provide a voice for Mickey Mouse. The first was done by Walt Disney himself. Iwan says he still remembers hearing a comment by Jimmy MacDonald, who voiced Mickey after Walt Disney, as he gave advice to successor Wayne Allwine.
"Remember, kid, you're only filling in for the boss, and that's how they looked at it. They truly felt like Walt was the voice of Mickey, and they were just stepping in to help. And so... that's become my mantra for the past 16 and a half years. I think, you know, I'm just filling in for the boss. My job is just to keep the Magic of Mickey that Walt created going for as long as possible," Iwan said.
Irish American Bret Iwan, the fourth person to provide the voice of Mickey Mouse, is being honored at SF St. Patrick's Day celebration gala.
Plan to build world's largest Irish Cultural Center in SF
The United Irish Cultural Center hopes to honor more Irish Americans past and present.
The Center is planning to expand, and is in the fundraising stages now to build a new 120,000 square foot cultural center with a museum inside to preserve the history of Irish Americans in the West.
"There are Irish centers in many other states: Chicago and Boston, New York, for example. They're also in Paris and London. So this would be the largest Irish Center anywhere in the world," Reidy said.
Proposal to build world's largest Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco. (Photo courtesy of UICC)