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Liz Robbins and Mark Fleischner to Reign As Queen and King of Hot Springs’ First Ever 22nd Annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade® | Hot Springs National Park Arkansas

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Liz Robbins and Mark Fleischner to Reign As Queen and King of Hot Springs’ First Ever 22nd Annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade®

HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, Arkansas — The king and queen of Hot Springs’ First Ever 22nd Annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade® both have deep ties to the history of the city.

Mark Fleischner and Liz Robbins will reign over the giant little parade on March 17 along 98-foot Bridge Street in downtown Hot Springs. Both have deep ties to the history of the city.

Robbins is the executive director of the Garland County Historical Society and Fleischner is the former owner of Lauray’s The Diamond Center, which is celebrating its 100th year of operation on Central Avenue in downtown Hot Springs.

“We’re fortunate to have two Hot Springs residents who have a deep understanding of our city’s history to preside over our little parade,” said Steve Arrison, CEO of Visit Hot Springs and founder of the parade. “Liz and Mark both appreciate the revitalization of downtown Hot Springs and how much the parade has become a part of that continuing process since it began in 2003. They’ll be great as our 2025 parade royalty.”

Robbins said she first attended the parade around 2008, after she had retired from teaching.

“I loved being a spectator and then ramped up my parade experience by participating for several years in a fun group led by Bob and Sally Pierce,” she said. “Every year we had a different name and a different theme, like Paddy O’Furniture and the Irish Sitters (lawn chair choreography was involved), the Dancing Druids of Dublin, and Michael Fatly and the Lards of the Dance. One memorable year we were nearly trampled by (temporarily) runaway Clydesdales that followed immediately behind us on the parade route.”

Robbins, a Hot Springs native, said she has lived in the city all her life except for eight years in her 20s, when she lived in northern New Mexico. She and her brothers, Charles and Richard, were raised by their parents, Guy and Dorothy, both of whom were educators. She was an English teacher for 37 years — the last 26 at Lakeside School District.

“When I retired from teaching in 2007, I started working for the Garland County Historical Society as its executive director and editor of its yearly journal,” she said. “It’s been a wonderful experience. I’ve met amazing people and found a passion for spreading the word about how unique and fascinating our local history is.”

Asked what is her favorite part of the parade, she said, “When I’ve been a participant, it’s definitely seeing the kids lining the streets. The really young ones are totally baffled by the crazy adults, and the others are thrilled when you throw them treats.”

“I am deeply honored to have been selected as parade queen,” Robbins said. “I feel like I’m representing all the people in the Historical Society who have worked so hard to preserve the history of our Irish citizens, such as our famous crooked mayor, Leo McLaughlin; gangster Owney Madden; the Irish families who built St. Mary’s of the Springs Church; Umbrella Bill McGuigan, who built Essex Park; John King, the double Congressional Medal of Honor winner from Ballinrobe, Ireland, who ended his days here, and so many more.”

“Remember everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, so celebrate accordingly,” she concluded. “You have my royal pardon if you celebrate a little too much . . . and I wish for all of you, in the words of the old Irish blessing— ‘May you escape the gallows, avoid distress, and be as healthy as a trout.’”

Fleischner said he attended the very first parade. “I simply walked down a few blocks from Lauray’s to see what was happening,” he said. “I’ve always been a spectator for the parades.”

A resident for 74 years, Fleischner said, “Amazingly, much of my life has been lived within a square mile from the Bridge Street location of the World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade. I was fortunate to begin my life on Whittington Avenue, where I fast became a two-wheel scooter kid checking out everything from the National Park at our front door, to the IQ Zoo, to the Alligator Farm, surrounded by wonderful neighbors who treated me as their own.”

He said Martin and Laura Fleischner were his parents and Lauray’s was named after his mother by his grandfather and grandmother, Sam and Faye Kirsch.

As a youngster, he said, he would visit the store at 402 Central, “where I would begin my day learning to polish silver or sitting back with the watchmaker/jeweler learning about stuff and probably aging them by the minute. It wasn’t long before my duties expanded to shipping and picking up or delivering watch or jewelry repairs up and down Central Avenue. Some of my favorite spots to go included the Southern Club, The Black Orchid, and, of course, The Ohio Club.”

“On some Saturdays,” he said “when I think my parents either felt guilty or I was a bit of a pain, they would let me go to the Paramount movie theater, located at that time where the parking lot is next to current downtown Post Office.

“I attended Ramble Grade School, Lakeside Junior High and graduated from Hot Springs High in 1968 along with a lot of folks who ended up like myself and made Hot Springs their home.”

“It’s hard to believe that the St. Patrick’s Day Parade began 22 years ago,” Fleischner said. “As goes the growth of the Parade, so goes the growth of Downtown Hot Springs. It has been incredible. With the arrival of the parade, the staff and I began dressing in green to join the fun and celebrate the occasion. Downtown Hot Springs has a deep, diverse rich history and I am grateful to have joined my family in being a part of it.”

He said his favorite parts of the parade are “the Elvis guys [the Irish Elvis impersonators], the creativity of the floats, the people and our unforgettable resident leprechauns including Monte Everhart and our friend in heaven, Dick Antione.”

“I am honored and thrilled to be a part of this fun occasion in Downtown Hot Springs where I have spent a large portion of my life,” Fleischner concluded. “I look forward to throwing beads to all of the little kids, young and old! My real joy will be the huge smile I will have during it all.”

Robbins and Fleischner will join a stellar lineup of entertainers announced previously, including celebrity grand marshal actress Valerie Bertinelli and official parade starter hip-hop legend Flavor Flav. The tribute band The Molly Ringwalds will perform a free public concert immediately after the parade, and the legendary band Grand Funk Railroad, which will perform a free public concert the evening of March, 16 the evening before the parade.

The parade annually attracts crowds of upwards of 30,000 people to watch an insanely zany collection of Irish Elvis impersonators, marching units, floats, dancers and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, as well as other unique units cover the 98-foot length of Bridge Street.

For more information call Steve Arrison, 501-321-2027.