If you took a look around over the weekend, chances were good you’d see a leprechaun — or at least a Minnesotan dressed like one.

With St. Patrick’s Day falling on a Saturday this year, area celebrations drew some good-sized crowds wearing plenty of green. Marshall held a St. Patrick’s Day parade on Saturday, while Lucan held its annual celebration on Sunday.

In Lucan, the St. Patrick’s Day parade is a tradition that goes back 32 years. On Sunday, a procession of floats, tractors, fire trucks and other vehicles went up Main Street, turned around, and went back a second time. Many of the folks tossing candy from the parade floats were decked out in green and wearing buckled leprechaun hats. So were a few people in the crowd.

“I think it’s great,” said Melanie Guetter, who was among the area residents who came to Lucan for the parade. “So many people come to Lucan.”

It might’ve been hard to tell from all the activity on Sunday, but the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Lucan had more humble beginnings, local residents said. The parade started out with one local resident celebrating Irish heritage.

“Joe Dolan started the parade, back in the day,” said Peggy Dolan. Peggy said Joe Dolan was her husband Bob’s father.

“(Joe) drove up and down in a golf cart with some flags,” recalled Ray Thull. Then, he said, “After a couple of years, we got organized.”

Over the years, the community Lucan has done a good job of keeping the St. Patrick’s Day parade going, Peggy Dolan said. She and other members of the Dolan family were among the people getting ready to drive or ride parade floats on Sunday, representing the Milroy Irish baseball team. Dolan said her family hadn’t had a presence at some of the past years’ parades, so this year, “Here we are, in full force,” she said.

Irish background or not, everyone could join in the fun. Ray Thull, who together with his wife Alice was getting ready to be a grand marshal for the parade, said his surname was German.

“But on St. Patrick’s Day, we put an ‘O’ in front of it,” he joked.