Bring the family to downtown Rhinelander for the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday, March 17, at 3 p.m. along Brown Street.

About 40 entries are expected along the parade route that begins at the corner of Brown and Frederick Streets at the Police Department. The route follows south on Brown and finishes at Anderson Street. The streets will not be closed to vehicle traffic except when the parade begins. Each intersection will be staffed with volunteer safety patrol. All cars parked within the parade route must remain until the parade concludes. Questions about the parade can be directed to Jack Winkler at Jack’s Super Service, at (715) 369-3030.

To celebrate the festivities many downtown stores are offering 17 percent off items in their store on Saturday, March 17. Customers need to wear green and bring a food item to the store to get the special discount price. All donated food items will be given to the Rhinelander Area Food Pantry. Participating shops will have a special 17 percent off green shamrock in the store window or on the door. The list of participating businesses will be updated on the Downtown Rhinelander website, DowntownRhinelander.com.

Sixteen downtown taverns and restaurants are hosting a St. Patrick’s Day Pub Crawl that same day from noon to 6 p.m. Pub Crawl entry cards are available now at a cost of $5 each at these participating establishments: Big Daddy’s, Bugsy’s, BucketHead’s, Claridge Clubhouse, Elbo Room Lounge, Knight Gallery, Moonlighting, Northern Coffee Haus, Northwestern, Pat’s Tavern, Quade’s Place, Rhinelander Cafe & Pub, Robbie’s Place, Sackett’s Bar & Grill, Sunset Junction and Zippy’s. Participants visit at least 10 taverns or restaurants and make a purchase in order to be in the drawing. The winner of the drawing gets 17 percent of the proceeds and the rest, 83 percent of the proceeds, go toward the Safe Ride Program. The drawing will be held at 7 p.m. at Knight Gallery, 50 South Brown Street. Winner does not have to be present to get prize. For more information about the Pub Crawl, call Nancy Lorbetske at (715) 367-1516.

Volunteers are needed for street safety patrol during the parade. To volunteer for one hour or for more information about the St. Patrick’s Day activities, contact Downtown Rhinelander, Inc. at (715) 362-7374.

The St. Patrick’s Day parade committee includes Bill Barnes, Tracey Barnes, Tim Phelan, Jack Winkler, David O’Melia, Pat Deau, Nancy Lorbetske, Max Ingram and Dave Schuppler, with assistance by Downtown Rhinelander, Inc. and Dean Distributing.