SEEING GREEN: Eaglehawk’s John Fitzpatrick posed for a photo with Nicholas, 6, and his sister Alannah Bell, 10, also wearing green in honour of St Patrick’s Day at the Dahlia and Arts Festival family fun day. Picture: Jodie Donnellan
JOHN Fitzpatrick’s St Patrick’s Day hat has a story of its own to tell.
The 80-year-old Eaglehawk resident was wearing a green hat, dotted with clovers, yesterday in honour of the Irish celebration.
“There’s a bit of a tale that goes with this hat,” Mr Fitzpatrick said.
“A friend of mine got it from an Irish shop in San Francisco.
“When he got on the plane to fly out that’s when an earthquake hit and flattened the Irish shop where he’d purchased it.
“It was one of the last hats to make it out of the shop. That was about 10 years ago.”
Mr Fitzpatrick was sporting his cherished hat and a pair of green trousers yesterday at the Dahlia & Arts Festival Family Day in Eaglehawk.