Many times the stories behind how the various St. Patrick's Day parades are as interesting as the parade itself. And in North Kansas City , famous for its annual “Snake Saturday” parade, is no exception.

“It all began as a promotion for Rodeway Inn,” said Mickey Finn. “It was almost 21 years ago and I remember it was about 10 degrees outside. The parade, consisting of only three floats, was to take place entirely in the hotel parking lot, with most of the onlookers watching from inside the coffee shop.”

Finn, who now works with Northland Festivals, Inc., that oversees the annual parade, said one of the prime instigators in that first parade was none other than Kansas City sports personality Bill Grigsby.

“Grigsby was our first grand marshal,” Finn recalled. “The winner of that first parade was a young lady who rode in a car in a bikini. By the time we were through, the mayor of North Kansas City turned to me and said we might as well take it to the street the next year. And we did.”

In the almost two decades that have passed since, North Kansas City has seen a number of changes and chief among them has been the annual Snake Saturday Parade. Held the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day, the parade has also come to be known as the best showcase of not-for-profit organizations in Kansas City .

“That all began a couple of years after we organized Northland Festivals and were still making a committee decision on how to divide up our profits among the many charities in the Northland.” Finn said. “Then someone suggested we invited the organizations to build floats and compete for prize money. That way, we figured it would promote community involvement and help us to help them. Of course, no one walks away a loser when all is said and done, according to Finn.

We try to spread the money around so that almost every not-for-profit that takes part in the parade walks away with money. “Our goal is never to make a lot of money on the parade, but to generate funds to give back to the community. And we have been very successful in that area. So successful that the grand prize steadily grew into a $10,000 cash prize.

Both the city of North Kansas City and North Kansas City Hospital are major sponsors of the parade, with other corporate sponsors coming and going over the years. But the parade, no matter who backs it, had continued to grow.

“We usually have about 50 – 60 charities, five high school bands, and any number of absolutely gorgeous floats, which I think is really what distinguishes us from the other holiday parades in the area,” Finn said. “The parade typically takes about two hours to watch.”

The parade is also very family-friendly, another goal that has been adhered to from almost the beginning. “We want to not only provide two hours of entertainment with the parade, but have something for the family to do the rest of the day as well.