SIOUX FALLS — A long-time Sioux Falls businessman has been named grand marshal of the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
The St. Patrick’s Day Parade Extravaganza Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 1, announced Dick Sweetman as the 2023 grand marshal of the annual gathering.
Sweetman, 86, is part of a family long active in the Sioux Falls business scene. For nearly four decades, he served as head of Sweetman Construction, before transitioning to Terin Construction Co. for another 13 years. In addition to founding the Ellis and Eastern Railroads, he serves as president of Spencer Quarries and ith his wife, Kathy, gifted the Washington Pavilion with a planetarium, to open this year.
Sweetman’s heritage can be traced back 10 generations to southeastern Ireland, with his grandfather settling roughly 85 miles east of Sioux Falls, in Minnesota, in the late-1800s. Growing up near downtown Sioux Falls, and attending Notre Dame, Sweetman even became an Irish citizen in 2001, and maintains close contact with relatives that still live there.
Living most of his life in Sioux Falls, Sweetman and his family have always found St. Patrick’s Day as a fun-filled celebration.
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“It seems that everyone can claim at least a little Irish blood in their veins, which is ample excuse to hoist a pint or two,” Sweetman said. “It is also a joyful break in the middle of the dreary winter, and we thank the good saint for it.”
This year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade has been moved up a day to the Saturday following St. Patrick’s Day, on March 18, instead of Sunday, when it has traditionally been held.
The traditional painting of the shamrock will take place at 11 a.m. on March 18, in front of Mrs. Murphy’s Irish Gifts, with staging for the parade beginning at 12:30 p.m. on Main and Dakota avenues between 11th and 13th streets.
Registration for the parade will remain open until March 12, with placement ordered on a first-come, first-serve basis.
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