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< Saturday, March 17, 2018 >


All Day St. Patrick Himself to Headline Murphys Irish Day March 17... See You on Saturday!!
Murphys, CA...St. Patrick, his very own self, will be the honored guest when the ever-popular Murphys Irish Day is celebrated in the historic gold rush town on Saturday, March 17. He will be the parade Grand Marshal. “Whenever this delightful festival falls on my birthday I do my best to be present,” said the patron saint of Ireland. “It is always enjoyable to be with so many good people having such a wonderful time.”





Murphys Irish Day is always the third Saturday of March. It will not fall on St. Patrick’s Day again until 2029. The day will begin with a hearty pancake breakfast from 8 to 10:00 a.m. at the Congregational Church on the corner of Church and Algiers Streets. The menu includes ham, scrambled eggs, pancakes, juice, tea and coffee. Tickets may be ordered by calling the church office at 728-3141. Tickets will also be sold at the door, $8 for adults and $5 for children ten and under. Proceeds will go to various local and global charities supported by the Church.

The Main St. festivities will start at 10 a.m. and continue until 5 p.m. There is no admission charge. More than 150 vendors, including 24 that are new to the event, will be set up along Main St. and will offer fine arts and crafts, home-baked delicacies, Irish themed souvenirs and many tasty things to eat and drink.

The Native Sons will be selling their famous corned beef sandwiches. A wide variety of other foods will be available along Main St. when hunger sets in. Beverages on sale will include fresh lemonade, beer and wine.

In addition, all the restaurants, tasting rooms and shops on Main St. will be open to explore and appreciate.
Live Entertainment

Live entertainment with a decidedly Irish theme will be presented throughout the day on two stages and along Main Street. Bagpipe music will fill the air. The Tommyknocker Cloggers will set everyone’s feet a tapping. A variety of musical groups will add to the festival atmosphere. A new attraction this year will be The Lynx Show with its mixture of magic, death defying stunts, and hilarious comedy antics.

Other entertainers include Grover Anderson & Jimbo Scott, The Treacherous French, Plan B, Sequoia, Michael Mullen, Bill Welles & Friends, and Three Irish Pipers.

Parade
At 11 a.m., the swirl of bagpipes will herald the start of the Murphys Irish Day Parade as it makes its way down Main St. with St. Patrick as the Grand Marshal.

The Girl Scouts will be the color guard and lead the parade. Members of the Boy Scouts, and Puzzle Pieces Playschool will be among the other groups representing the young people of the area. There will be equestrian units including the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Posse.

Making a triumphant return to Murphys will be Rusty O'FlaTTery, the world’s tallest leprechaun. After the parade he will emerge as his other self to entertain the crowd with his unique brand of humor, juggling, and magic.
Local organizations participating in the parade will include the Native Sons of the Golden West, with their giant California flag, Soroptimists, Murphys Old Timers Museum, and the Murphys Community Club.

Other parade entries will include a classic car or two, four miniature Sicilian donkeys, Bernese Mountain Dogs, The Irish Cultural Society, Mr. Frog’s Wild Ride, the Sheriff’s Department and the Murphys Fire District.
Announcers Dave Bowman and Jim Bailey will be stationed along the parade route to describe each entry as it passes.

Win a Trip to Ireland
The luck of the Irish will take on special meaning for one happy couple when they are transported from a gold rush town with Irish heritage to the fabled land of shamrocks and leprechauns as grand prize winners of the Win a Trip to Ireland raffle. Specially created Murphys area vacation prize packages will be awarded to two runners-up.

Raffle tickets are five dollars each or five for $20. They are available through March 16 at the Calaveras Visitors Bureau in Angels Camp, and many locations in Murphys including Creative Cookware, Marisolio Olive Oils, Murphys Hotel, Next – Upscale Resale, The Spice Tin, and Sierra Nevada Adventure Company. They also will be available at the Business Association booth in front of the Native Sons Hall on the day of the event.

The winning tickets will be drawn near the end of the event. You need not be present to win.

Free Parking & Shuttle Service
Free parking will be available at Ironstone Vineyards on Six Mile Road. A free shuttle bus, provided by Ironstone and the Murphys Business Association, will run between Ironstone and the Arbors parking lot at Jones and Scott Streets. Shuttles will leave approximately every 20 minutes from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Free parking will also be available at the Black Bart Playhouse parking lot on Algiers St. after the parade has finished and cleared. Parking for cars with disabled person placards or plates will be located in the Arbors parking lot at Jones and Scott Streets and at the Masonic Hall, 384 Church St.
There will be no parking from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Main, Church, Algiers, Sheep Ranch, Scott, and Jones Sts. and Six Mile Road. When traveling to the event motorists should use Highway 4, and not Murphys Grade Road.

Main Street will be closed from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the day of the event.

The major Irish Day sponsors are Black Oak Casino, Broll Mountain Vineyards, Cal Waste, Insight Manufacturing, Ironstone Vineyards, Marisolio, Mark Twain Medical Center / Dignity Health, Murphys Pourhouse, and Tanner Vineyards.

For more information go to www.visitmurphys.com.
####
12:00 AM - 12:00 AM Post Abortion Support Study
ARE YOU GRIEVING THE LOSS OF AN ABORTED CHILD?
KNOW SOMEONE WHO IS? COME JOIN OUR "FORGIVEN AND SET FREE" 8 week post abortion bible study starting the week of February 18th. No charge, but registration is required. ALL ARE WELCOME. Time and day of week to be determined. For more information call 736-9600 or Vicki Harrington 768-1765. All information is confidential.
08:00 AM Annual Irish Days Pancake Breakfast at First Congregational UCC
TOP OF THE MORNING
There’s no blarney about it. First Congregational United Church of Christ in Murphys will again be celebrating Irish Days with the annual pancake breakfast. A record number of guests were fed last year and the crowd is expected to be even bigger this year. Spread the word; tell all your friends. The rainbow ends on St. Patrick’s Day at the church, 509 N. Algiers, Saturday, St Patrick's Day, March 17 from 8 am until 10:30. The menu includes pancakes, ham, scrambled eggs, juice, tea and coffee. Advance tickets are available by calling the church office at 209-728-3141. Tickets will also be sold at the door; $8 for adults and $5 for children under ten. Proceeds will go to various local and global charities supported by First Congregational United Church of Christ.
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM Old Timers Museum Walking Tours Are Every Saturday at 10am.
Murphys, CA...Each Saturday morning the Old Timers Museum in Murphys offers a historical walking tour of Murphys. No reservation necessary. Meet at the Museum, 470 Main St, Murphys, across from the Hotel 10 am. Walk is 1-1/12 hours.


A stroll down tree-lined Main Street transports visitors back to the mid-1800s with buildings bearing thick stone walls, iron shutters and pastoral gardens with white picket fences. Once you experience the charm and hospitality of Murphys, the historic “Queen of the Sierra”, you’ll want to come back again and again!

Rich in Gold Rush History, Murphys today is a vibrant, thriving community of over 2,000 residents. Many of the surrounding hillsides are rich with the fine wine grapes grown in our area. Murphys offers wineries, art galleries, live theater, eclectic shops, fine restaurants, charming hotels and B&B’s as well as a multitude of outstanding outdoor recreational opportunities.

Murphys’ colorful past came alive in 1848 when John and Daniel Murphy established a trading post and gold mining operation in the area that is now their namesake. True entrepreneurs with the luck of the Irish, they were a part of the very first immigrant party – the Stephens-Townsend-Murphy families – to successfully bring wagons over the Sierra in 1844, paving the way for westward migration. John and Daniel’s cries of “Gold!” were among the first heard in California. It is reported that the brothers took two million dollars in gold ore from the Murphys Diggins in one year’s time, making them millionaires before the age of 25. The sizzling Gold Rush camp of Murphys also played host to President Grant, Mark Twain and Black Bart. And in some circles, to an even more famous chap – a young, inquisitive lad who literally changed the scientific world, Dr. Albert Michelson.

Our friendly residents invite you to revisit the past while exploring the “new” upscale Murphys. Guided walking tours of the town’s many historic buildings including the home of Albert Michelson, the first American Nobel Prize winner, are conducted every Saturday at 10:00 a.m., starting in front of the Old Timers Museum on Main Street.
11:00 AM Town Tours of Columbia State Historic Park
Columbia, CA...Enjoy an hour-long walking tour of town led by a park staff member or docent. See the actual gold discovery site, learn about the buildings and early merchants of Columbia. Sponsored by The Friends Of Columbia SHP. Visit their website for more information. Town Tours are every Saturday & Sunday starting at 11 am. Meet at the office on Main Street & State St Columbia, CA 95310

12:00 PM - 04:00 PM Murphys Old Timers Museum Will Display "Cattle in the Sierras " Through April
Murphys, CA...Funded by a California Stories grant from California Humanities, the Murphys Old Timers Museum, has produced an exhibit on the long-established practice of transhumance in the California Foothills and Sierra Nevada. Since gold was discovered in California in the winter of 1848, cattle have roamed the foothills in winter and spring, summered in the rich grasslands of the Sierra Nevada, and returned to their lowland homes in the fall. This annual pattern (transhumance), with established ranches and farms in the lower elevations and summer camps and pasturages in the high mountain meadows, is rapidly disappearing. Threatened with the diminishing price of beef to producers, difficulties in transporting livestock to their summer ranges, and environmental regulations, this 160-year old California tradition may disappear in the near future. Proponents of grazing argue that this will result in loss of mountain meadows and ponds as well as lowland ranches with their grass ranges to residential sprawl. Some environmental and hiking groups contend that livestock grazing in the mountains has led to degradation of streams and native ecosystems. The exhibit, and a video, recount the stories of historic cattle ranching in the California foothills and its battle to stay alive in the face of current environmental and economic challenges, also addressing the effects of its continued operation on mountain ecosystems. Utilizing historical and current photographs and the installation of a 1911 high country cow camp, this exhibit argues that by working together to solve grazing issues, ranchers, the Forest Service, scientists, environmental groups, and the public can resolve their differences, resulting in a win-win for all. A 15-minute video, presenting both sides of the issue and a hope for reconciliation, is forthcoming.




The exhibit will be on display at the Murphys Old Timers Museum, 470 Main Street, Murphys Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays 12 pm to 4 pm through April 29, 2018. Call for more info 728-1160.
02:00 PM - 04:00 PM Voices of Wisdom adult 55+ writing classes
Adult Writing Classes FREE and open to all
Manzanita Arts Emporium, 1211 S. Main St, Angels Camp 95222. (209) 728-6171 manzapress.com
07:00 PM MCT Opens 2018 with Joseph Kesselring’s Arsenic and Old Lace.
Murphys, CA...Murphys Creek Theatre launches its new vibrant season with the deep dark comedy classic Arsenic and Old Lace, opening March 2nd and runs till the 25th. The play runs Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm, Sundays at 2pm. Written by Joseph Kesselring the play originated on Broadway in 1941, ran for four years, and a successful film adaptation produced a cult following. A radio version, and hundreds of stage revivals followed. The 1940s setting is in the Brooklyn home of the Brewsters; Mortimer, the sanest of the eccentric household, tries to keep the city, and his girlfriend Elaine Harper, safe from the secrets of his family.


Guest Director Jon Dambacher, who in 2015 directed God of Carnage for MCT, writes of this new Lace production, "Most people think they already know this play. The challenge becomes rejecting and avoiding the clichés. What's less obvious are the many alternating layers in it. It's funny, bizarre, a little tragic, but at its core, it's a story that asks, in Love: What is a deal-breaker? Audiences, we believe, are in for a savory treat."

Audiences are definitely in for a treat with this ensemble cast of seasoned MCT veterans and newcomers. Rajah Foerstner, Ayla Buck, and Shari Schweigler are all making their first appearances in Murphys as Mortimer Brewster, Elaine Harper and Abby Brewster. Joining them are Sherry Dumas as Martha Brewster, Sid Marsh as Jonathan Brewster, Denny Bowen as “Teddy” Brewster, Terry Richardson as Dr. Einstein, with Holly Johnston, Stephen Daly and John Baker rounding out the talent.

The Board of Directors hosts an Opening Night reception on March 2, 2018 – giving audience members a chance to share refreshments and perhaps some wine with the cast and crew.

The theatre is located at 580 S Algiers Road Murphys CA 95251 in the Black Bart Playhouse. Ticket prices are $24 general admission, $22 for students and seniors 55+, and $12 for children 12 and under.

Advance tickets are strongly encouraged – visit www.murphyscreektheatre.org or call 209-728-8422

The box office opens at 6 pm on Fridays and Saturdays with the play starting promptly at 7, and at 12:30 on Sundays, with the show starting at 2.

Mark Twain Medical Center
Meadowmont Pharmacy
Angels & San Andreas Memorial Chapels
Bear Valley Real Estate
Gerard Insurance
Bank of Stockton
Fox Security
Bistro Espresso
Chatom Winery
Middleton's Furniture
Bear Valley Mountain Resort
Cave, Mine & Zip Lines
High Country Spa & Stove
Ebbetts Pass Scenic Byway
Sierra Logging Museum Calaveras Mentoriing
Jenny's Kitchen

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