Steve McVittie: Gearing Up
for the St. Patrick's Day Parade
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
VANCOUVER - Steve McVittie wears several hats, but the one in which he is most recognized, is the green and gold top hat he wears at the annual St. Patrick's Day parade.
This year will be his fourth year at the helm of the big parade where he marshals the floats into position and ensures everything runs on schedule.
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STEVE McVITTIE, the parade marshal at the third annual Vancouver St. Patrick's Day parade
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I recently spoke to Steve about how this year's parade is shaping up and also about his own businesses....The Celtic Treasure Shop in Dunbar and the White Rock location where he also has a bakery.
"From the looks of things this year, we're going to have a lot more floats in the parade," said Steve, "and I will also have more help this year." This year there will also be a new parade route.
The 2007 Parade will begin at Howe and Drake and march north on Howe Street, turning right at Smithe Street onto Granville Street The parade will then march south on Granville Street ending at Drake and Granville Street.
For the first time they will have the participation of the RCMP A Division Pipe and Drum Band. Steve said, "we will also have a lot more media entries this year. In the past, a lot of the media weren't interested, but this year we five or six radio stations participating in the parade.
"We also won the Spirit of Vancouver award for turning the city around and helping to make it a fun city again. This year, we expect well over 200,000 people at the parade because it's a longer parade than last year.
"Our parade is a people parade and when it's finished, people don't go home, they go to the Celtic Market Place, to the stores, the restaurants, and the pubs.
"The St. Patrick's Day parade has now become an annual event, it's become the heart of Vancouver. Don't forget that Vancouver was started by the Irish, Scottish and the Brits. They were the first to come over and build Vancouver and we are still very, very active in Vancouver and beginning to become more so.
One of Steve's other hats is proprietor of the Celtic Treasure Chest in both Dunbar and White Rock. Another company that he recently launched is his import company called Shamrock, Rose and Thistle Importers and Distributors Ltd. and The British Isles Wholesale.
Speaking about his newest venture, he said, "it's like a lot of things, you either stay stagnant or you grow. Because of our involvement in the Celtic community, we found that many people have their favourites, and they don't want to come in and buy a package at a time. They would be happier to buy a case of this and a case of that, then 'I'm good for the month'.
"There are also a lot of stores that can't afford the minimum to supply their own shop, since they're not doing the volume that we're doing. So we can tag and bring in their stuff as part of our shipment. This way they can stock a good variety without the heavy inventory.
"Most importers just carry the British groceries, but because we do the sausages, meat pies, and the bread line, we're very well rounded as a supplier, whether it's a restaurant or a store that wants to carry some British items.
"We're actually doing more and more breads, and right now we have an Irish Bram Brack that is just absolutely fantastic. So we will now be able to wholesale everything that we carry. There's a big difference in the quality and taste of British products and more and more people are realizing that."
For more information about The British Isles Wholesale, contact Steve McVittie at (604) 261-3688. The Celtic Treasure Chest Stores are located at: 5639 Dunbar Street in Vancouver, call (604) 261-3688, and 1534 Foster Street in White Rock, call (604) 538-2277.
Visitors will be able to try some of Celtic Treasure Chest's specialties throughout CelticFest at the Celtic Market on Granville Street, and certainly after the St. Patrick's Day parade.
For more information about the St. Patrick's Day parade and events at CelticFest Vancouver, visit their website at: www.celticfestvancouver.com.
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