SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) — Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in downtown Sioux Falls marks a milestone for the city.
This annual celebration is now in its 45th year.
It all started in 1980 with a flash of inspiration from someone who wasn’t even Irish.
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Sylvia Henkin was a businesswoman, civic leader and a trailblazer in many fields.
“I got involved in the Chamber of Commerce, and became one of the first lady presidents there. I was asked to join the rotary club and again another, the first lady there. I made quite a few dramatic entrances, I don’t know if you wanna call it that,” Henkin said in 2009.
So it was only natural that Henkin would be the first to propose a St. Patrick’s Day Parade for Sioux Falls. She pitched the idea from inside her kitchen while serving drinks and chocolate chips cookies to friends.
“I got the ball rolling. Let’s put it that way. Everyone has to become Irish on this day,” Henkin said in 2016.
This feisty force of nature quickly convinced other community leaders to get on board.
“So she tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Hey, you’re going to be the guy.’ And trust me, when you get appointed by Sylvia Henkin and you listen and you do what you’re told,” Parade Grand Marshal Shawn Cleary said in 2024.
Henkin firmly believed Sioux Falls could outdo bigger cities when it came to throwing St. Patrick’s celebrations.
“If they can do it in New York, we can certainly do it better in Sioux Falls. After all, look who we are,” Henkin said in 2016.
The St. Patrick’s Day parade would keep growing in popularity through the years, attracting thousands of people to downtown Sioux Falls. Henkin would serve as a two-time grand marshal of the parade. And while she couldn’t trace her family roots back to Ireland, to her, all roads led back to Sioux Falls. And she was always quick to sing the praises of the city she loved.
“I’m from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, it’s my home town!”
Henkin died in 2018 at the age of 96. The parade she started begins at 2 p.m. Saturday in front of our KELOLAND studios and proceeds north on Phillips Avenue.
