St. Patrick’s Day will be a party that includes bands, blowout basketball, beer and bloodys.
— Although it may be true that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, there is no substitute locally for “being the only truly Irish bar in River Falls,” say the folks at Johnnie’s. Their traditional St. Patrick’s celebration includes five different drink specials and live Irish music by The Pan Alley Cats, (our pick of the many bands this weekend), starting early, at 4 p.m., and going strong for who knows how long. At Johnnie’s, locally owned and operated at 116 N. Main St., starting in 1946, Monday will bring $2 Irish whiskey, $3 Guinness pints, $2.50 Finnegans Irish Amber or Killian’s Irish Red, and $1.50 pints. There is always free popcorn and wireless service.
— The Badger boys basketball team sent Minnesota packing, back to the other side of the river, with Friday’s 83-57 blowout win over the Gophers, so next up is a 3 p.m. Saturday showdown. That will be against the winner of Michigan State Vs. Northwestern, Friday’s late game. The best place to watch Wisconsin, the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, is Kozy Korner in North Hudson, which was almost full for the Minnesota game, as playing during the dinner hour was a mixed blessing. Kozy promises to be even more full on Saturday afternoon, but there still will be a quality experience, wherever you sit. That’s because the back area has been repainted and redecorated, and there is a television close by for viewing no matter where you are in the place. Two new TVs were added last season to enhance that advantage.
— For the fifth straight year on St. Patrick’s Day, there will be the North Hudson pub crawl, beginning at Kozy Korner at 5 p.m., but that’s only the starting point. Participants can join in at any time or place along the route, which continues with a walk from Kozy to the Village Inn, then a ride to Season’s Tavern, and then another walk to Starr’s Bar and Mallalieu Inn. Only a night out where you have multiple designated drivers could provide this much flexability, but wait, there’s that too. At least three drivers will be on hand for his event, taking people to and fro as needed. There is no charge for the event, and while there are not any drink specials dedicated just to the pub crawl, it is St. Patrick’s Day after all, and all those great rates will apply anyway. Sponsors say that they even have met people from the Twin Cities who have come on over to do the crawl, most of them knowing someone who is local and had spread the word.
— There is a whole weekend festival for St. Patrick’s Day at the Green Mill, featuring an old style “garage party” with “our friend deejay Dug E Fresh,” beer pong and a best leprechaun contest on Saturday night, bloody Mary specials all day Sunday in case you’re feeling a little rough, and a combo bar game Trivingo on Monday at 7 p.m. Various places offer all kinds of food specials, but Green Mill gets our nod with Ruben soup.