5 Must-Know March Dates In Elmhurst

ELMHURST, IL — Spring doesn’t officially arrive until Thursday, March 19, but it already feels as if we’re awaking from a long sleep with events that will get us outside this month, including the 24th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on Saturday, March 7.

Parade participants will march off at noon from Wilson Street and Spring Road, heading north. It will end at the railroad, one block south of St. Charles Road in front of Silverado Grill.

The parade features floats, marching units and animated characters along with local group businesses along a mile stretch, according to the organizers' website. It will be the beginning of a festive day in Elmhurst with local merchants and restaurateurs getting into the act, the site says.

Spring arrives when the vernal equinox officially arrives at 11:50 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on the 19th. That’s when the Northern Hemisphere starts to tilt toward the sun, bringing earlier sunrises, later sunsets, softer winds and green plants sprouting from the ground. In theory. Let’s hope so.

Here are five need-to-know dates in March:

• March 2: National Read Across America Day is often called Dr. Seuss Day because it’s the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel, the illustrator and writer of popular children’s books under the pseudonym of Dr. Seuss. The intent of the National Education Association-sponsored Dr. Seuss Day is to encourage reading in children, and role models and celebrities often read to children at school.
• March 8: International Women’s Day takes on added prominence this year due to the #MeToo movement, which gave voice to throngs of women to talk about issues ranging from sexual harassment to pay equality. In Elmhurst, what woman most inspires you and why? Tell us in the comments section.
• March 8: Daylight Saving Time actually arrives before the start of spring. Remember the maxim — spring forward, and set your clock ahead an hour. Most cell phones and devices will automatically update.
• March 9: The March full moon is a supermoon — the second of four this year. It’s also called the full worm moon, so named by early Native American tribes because it’s the time of year when earthworms began working their way out of the newly thawed ground. It's also been called the crow moon, the crust moon, the sap moon and the Lenten moon.
• March 17: St. Patrick’s Day, that time of year when many of us tap our inner Irish (or at least pretend we do) falls on a Tuesday this year.