SHAMROCK, Texas -- Mayor J. Siebert Worley is not sure about his Irish ancestry, but he's changing his name to O'Worley this weekend for the 36th annual St. Patrick's Day Celebration -- the 'top holiday of the year' for the tiny Panhandle town.
Shamrock's 3,500 citizens plan to paint the town green with revelry that includes music, dancing, beauty contests, speeches and a parade featuring Gov. Bill Clements, celebration planner James Lunsford said Tuesday.
Worley, who has served as mayor six different times since 1956, said if he had any Irish ancestry, it would be going 'way, way back.'
'But it will be O'Worley this Friday and Saturday,' he said. 'St. Patrick's Day is the top one (holiday) of the year around here. There won't be a dull moment.'
Despite the fact that 'not that many Irish people' live in Shamrock, Lunsford insists 'everyone turns Irish' for the annual affair, which was started by Shamrock High School bandmaster Glen Truax in 1938.
Truax got the idea to capitalize on the town's name, which was bestowed on the tiny Panhandle hamlet at the turn of the century by George Nickel, an Irish postmaster pining for his native land.
The Shamrock Booster Club picked up on Truax's suggestion several years later and fashioned the idea into a festival that in previous years has attracted visitors from as far away as Ireland itself.
The festivities involve almost everyone in town, including the weekly newspaper, the Shamrock Texan, which will print its Thursday edition on green paper.
About the only tradition Shamrock's celebration breaks is the day the festivities are held. The affair this year will be Saturday, March 20, instead of Wednesday, March 17, the official day designated for St. Patrick.
Lunsford estimated the celebration would attract '20,000 people from all over the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Kansas.'
