By Alex Smith and Michael Crane
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-957440.mp3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Organizers of the Kansas City St. Patrick's Dayparade expect over a quarter of a million people to line up on Broadway for the parade on Thursday, March 17. KC Currents' intern Michael Crane went to Browne's Irish Marketplace to see how people of Irish and non-Irish decent were getting ready. The old cliche rings true: on St. Paddy's Day, everyone is Irish.
But only about 12 percent of the U.S. population claims an Irish heritage, and Kansas City isn't known as a major center for Irish immigration, so you can bet that a whole lot of those parade-goers don't have much Irish in them.
So what is it about St. Patrick's Day that makes this city turn green?
KCUR's Alex Smith sat down with Eddie Delahunt, an Irish folk singer who settled in Kansas City more than 20 years ago, and he spoke with Natasha Casey, a professor at Blackburn College near St. Louis, about their experiences moving from Ireland to the U.S.
This story was produced for KC Currents. To listen on your own schedule, subscribe to the KC Currents Podcast.
