3/17/2013:
Today is St. Patrick’s Day, when everyone has a bit of the Irish.
Of course, some people are Irish year-‘round. Back in 1961, homebuilder Shamrock Homes of Bismarck played off its Irish image by displaying a large green boulder with “A Bit of the Ol’ Blarney Stone” written upon it – but one morning they found that hooligans had painted the stone orange!
Green, white and orange all grace the flag of Ireland, with green typically indicating the Catholic Irish, the orange indicating the Protestants, and white indicating the peace between them.
A sales agent for Shamrock Homes, was shocked—but he did enjoy the luck of the Irish, as the incident created significant publicity!
Dakota Datebook written by Sarah Walker
Sources:
The Morton County News, Thursday, August 3, 1961