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2 Your Town Wearin' of the Green: Behind the tradition of the grand marshal's shillelagh
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BATON ROUGE - Each year, the grand marshal of Wearin' of the Green receives a shillelagh, a traditional Irish walking stick, as a memento to remember the parade. Capital area arborist and artist Jim Eaves said he is honored each year to make the shillelagh the grand marshal wields.
"In case you're wondering, do I have a favorite? The year, the one that I'm giving at the time, is my favorite, but I'm always looking forward to the next one," he said.
Eaves said he started making the shillelaghs several years ago. He said back in 2018, Pat Shingleton, the parade's founder, spoke to Our Lady of Mercy Knights of Columbus Council 969 about the importance of community service and giving back. Following a tradition started by his dad Jesse Eaves, Jim Eaves gave Shingleton a fid, a tool used by sailors to splice ropes.
"I gave it to him as a thank you," Eaves said.
It led to Shingleton asking Eaves to make the first shillelagh in 2019, for Grand Marshal Father Mike Moroney. Since then, Eaves has made these special walking sticks for more grand marshals like Todd Graves, Tim Mockler, Seimone Augustus and Noreen Coffey.
"Each one is uniquely different. For instance, last year, Noreen Coffey, she's from Ireland. She knows what a shillelagh is supposed to look like," Eaves said. "The base of the shillelagh I stained black and then the top part I stained natural as an homage to a real Irish shillelagh."
Eaves said he learned woodworking and woodturning from his father, Jesse Eaves.
"I feel like I'm continuing something that my dad started, and that makes me happy," he said.
Sometimes the wood is even sourced from the trees Eaves cuts down. This year, 41st Grand Marshal Jim Cantore's walking stick includes wood from a live oak, brought down by Hurricane Gustav, a storm he covered in 2008 in southeast Louisiana.
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