Parade royalty honored to reign over festivities
Rose Schweikhart and Anthony Valinoti, the Shamrock King and Queen of the First Ever 15th Annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade, are gearing up for their royal duties as the event draws closer.
Schweikhart, who developed and operates the Superior Bathhouse Brewery on Bathhouse Row in Hot Springs National Park, and Valinoti, owner of DeLuca’s Pizzeria Napoletana on Park Avenue, will reign over the parade festivities on March 17.
“We’ve been working very hard in our royal duties,” Schweikhart said. “I think we’re the Hot Springs ‘hype men.’ We’re the walking billboards and shameless promoters of downtown Hot Springs.”
When asked their reactions to the news they were selected to fill the roles of king and queen, Valinoti facetiously said initially it was “shock and horror.”
“I just couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I got the letter and I read it six times, and was like ‘Could this actually be true?’ It was such a great honor and of all the people here, Rosie and I really pretty much started our businesses the same year and so we’re the new kids in town. I’ve been living here five years, but this is my home forever. I’ll
never go anywhere else. I love it here.”
Schweikhart said she likes to think their occupations will hopefully make them popular with most parade-goers.
“I like to think it’s because we make pizza and beer,” she said. “Is there anyone who doesn’t like pizza or beer? Some people don’t drink beer. Maybe there are some people who don’t like pizza. But we basically appeal to 99.9 percent of the population.”
Both transplants to Hot Springs, Schweikhart and Valinoti said they agreed that “there’s something in the water” that drew them here.
“Before I even moved here, I had found out about this water and wanted to open a brewery,” Schweikhart said. “So I kind of looked into if it was possible to brew with the spring water. I thought here’s my chance to do something ridiculous. It seemed impossible; I mean, it’s a bath house owned by the National Park Service with hot spring water. No one’s done any of those things in the world.”
“This woman is a real ground breaker. Obviously she forged something that someone had never done,” Valinoti interjected.
Serendipity is what Valinoti said brought him to his new hometown.
“I don’t know any other word to describe it,” he said. “I was supposed to open (DeLuca’s) in California, but it didn’t work out. A friend sent me this way and I knew in one day that this is where I wanted to live. When I saw this place it just reminded me of my childhood up in Saratoga Springs, New York. I had some of my best summers as a kid up there so it’s just this great childhood memory of a town. I’ve just never stopped loving (Hot Springs) since the moment I saw it.”
Serendipity, Schweikhart said, is a common reason people make a home in Hot Springs.
“It’s serendipitous in that’s the thing about Hot Springs — crazy things are possible in Hot Springs,” she said. “It sucks people in. The water is the reason Hot Springs is here and the water is the reason I’m here and why the bath house is here, and it’s why so many people flock to Hot Springs.”
As is customary of the parade royalty, Valinoti said he’s got family coming in from around the country to partake in the festivities.
“I have people coming in from all over,” he said. “I have people coming in from New York and Connecticut, Florida and New Jersey. My family’s coming and it’s just, I think, they just want to witness the shenanigans and the mayhem that will ensue.”
Schweikhart said she’s still working on her entourage for the parade.
When asked if their businesses would be open on the holiday, Valinoti said DeLuca’s will be closed on March 17 but Schweikhart said Superior will remain open.
“I’ve always closed on the parade,” he said. “In the four years I’ve been open, fifth year now, I’ve never been open on St. Patrick’s Day out of deference to the parade. So we’re going to close down on Saturday and give my whole crew a chance just to go and enjoy the parade. It’s such a great day for them and their families. That’s our way of respecting the parade, and then we’re back open on Sunday.
“And who wants pizza on St. Patrick’s Day? I don’t want pizza on St. Patrick’s Day, all right. I want beer and I want corned beef, and I certainly don’t see why I would want to be open on a day like that when I can come here and drink beer.”
Schweikhart said because the pub crawl is such a big part of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade culture, Superior staying open is her way of “showing respect to the parade.”
The king and queen told The Sentinel-Record that they are issuing an “official royal decree” that people from far and wide should make an entire weekend trip of this year’s festivities.
“This is going to be the best parade ever, it really is,” he said. “This is on a Saturday night with the Rebel Stakes and the Clydesdales and everything else — Morris Day and the Time, Grand Funk. This is about to take off.”
Schweikhart said with hotels booking up fast, visitors should start making their plans now to make it to Hot Springs.
“The hotels are booking up fast, but grab a tent and go to Lake Ouachita State Park if you have to,” she said. “Friday night is going to be off the hook. All day Saturday with Oaklawn racetrack, downtown, parade, concert. And then Sunday stay for brunch. This is a three-day occasion.”
Both the king and queen said they wanted to thank Steve Arrison, CEO of Visit Hot Springs, which organizes the event, adding that Arrison “is what drives the city and makes this city thrive.”
All entries are now filled for the parade and organizers announced early last week the lineup will have new participants including a dancing dinosaur from Mid-America Science Museum, the Sassy Skating Ladies roller derby team, and a marching pack of Irish dachshunds. The parade will also include O’Hobbie Waddlers, a troupe of “senior tappers;” the Irish Bearden Sharpshooters, a troop of Civil War re-enactors; the Shamrock Shimmies, a group of belly dancers minus their veils; the Fun City Irish Chorus singers; The Order of the Irish Elvi; and Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
There will be 40 entries in all, including celebrity grand marshal Joey Fatone of *NSYNC and official starter Jon Heder of “Napoleon Dynamite” fame.
The parade will kickoff at
7:30 p.m. on March 17. There will be a free public concert on March 16 by music legends Grand Funk Railroad and Adam Faucett, who was named Songwriter of the Year by the Central Arkansas Music Awards. The concert begins at
7:15 p.m. at the Broadway Entertainment District stage. Immediately following the parade, there will be another free public concert at the same location by Morris Day and The Time.