Business owners in Airdrie are preparing to paint the town green for St. Patrick’s Day this week, with festivities celebrating Irish culture including a St. Patty’s Day-inspired pottery class, a bowling tournament at Shamrock Lanes, and a local fundraiser in support of a youth services club throughout March.
The Paddy’s Day Pottery workshop is set to be held at Atlas Brewing on March 20 – the Sunday following St. Patrick’s Day – for those who are looking for a more relaxed way to celebrate the holiday by crafting with friends and drinking local brews.
Rylee Petkau, owner of The Potter’s House – a small pottery studio located east of Crossfield – said she will be hosting the workshop and will walk participants through step-by-step instructions to create a custom cappuccino-style mug with a St. Patrick’s Day twist.
“You’ll be able to purchase your beer there or whatever you’re fancying and visit with friends while walking through the steps of building a mug,” she said.
“[Participants] will end up with their own mug, decorated the way they want, and of course there’s lots of textured rolling pins and stamps and tools they’ll be able to share and work with to create it."
She added attendees will also learn various techniques of working with clay and upon completion of their handcrafted mug, she will dip the mugs into attendee’s colour of choice before firing them in a kiln.
The result will be a microwave-safe, dishwasher-safe, and food-safe mug that participants can pick up the following week at Atlas Brewing.
She said while she has hosted numerous workshops over the years, this is her first St. Patrick’s Day-themed pottery workshop, and added it is a great opportunity for Airdronians to try something new.
“It gets you out in the community trying some of the different local beers and local facilities that people might not be familiar with,” she said. “It’s a different kind of activity you can do that’s not necessarily centred around spending a lot of money or going a far distance for travel. And it supports local.”
For those participating, Petkau suggested to trim your fingernails and said not to be afraid to get a little messy. She added that even though it's easy to wash stains out of clothes, participants might not want to wear their finest garments.
“[Clay] is also quite forgiving, so if you feel like you're making mistakes, it's easy to patch and fix and repair,” she said.
Tickets for the St. Patrick’s Day workshop are selling fast, with only 10 left as of March 11. To purchase, visit bit.ly/37xIkbA.
Bowling for shamrocks
Similarly, and in honour of St. Patrick’s Day, Airdrie’s Shamrock Lanes bowling alley is gearing up to host is 38th annual Irish doubles tournament for league bowlers on March 18 and 19.
The all-weekend tournament currently has 75 teams signed up, but co-owner of Shamrock Lanes Cassie Dilts expects more teams from other areas to sign up, too.
While the tournament is only open to league bowlers and the bowling alley's league night falls on St. Patrick’s Day, the public is welcome to bowl prior to 6:30 p.m on March 17.
Dilts noted that a big school group is bowling between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on March 17, but that the public can dress green and strap on their bowling shoes afterward.
“They can dress up if they like. We dress up on St. Patrick’s Day for sure and if they want green beer, we can probably do it,” Dilts said.
BGC Airdrie fundraiser
Finally, BGC Airdrie Club is looking to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with its ‘Shamrockin' and Rollin in the Green’ fundraiser in support of its programs and services throughout the month of March. A prize draw for an online 50/50 raffle will be held at noon on March 31 at the club’s headquarters at 200 East Lake Crescent.
Ticket prices are one for $10, four for $20, 20 for $50, or 100 for $100, with sales ending on March 31. The winner will receive a cash prize equal to 50 per cent of the total ticket sales, up to a maximum of $10,000.
All proceeds from the fundraiser will support BGC Airdrie Club's programs and services.
To buy tickets, go to bit.ly/3CMDva0
