Back To The Basics: A Couple of Couches, A Porta Potty and Lots of Kids

Mike Penprase picks up the story in today's SN-L:

The parade's been going on so long for some people it's hard to recall how long they've been participating.

That was the case for Irish Couch Potatae Tour Bus co-founder Jack Pettijohn until fellow founder Jim Lee reminded him the bus has been in the parade since its inception.

"It's a neighborhood deal," Pettijohn said of a clan that rides in parades aboard a short yellow school bus outfitted with old couches.

"Every year, we try to have something fancy, cutting edge," Lee said. "This year, we decided to go back to the basics. A port-a-potty, a trailer with couches and a bunch of grandkids."

The convenience is functional, Pettijohn explained after a fellow parade participant asked if he could use it.

And this article, by Sonya Hocklander, from the SN-L Weekend:

The big event, of course, is the parade.

One long-standing parade group, the Irish Couch Potatoes, is centered around two families headed by Jim Lee and Jack Pettijohn.

They started participating 25 years ago, Lee says. Today, grown family members and their kids participate, along with anyone else who shows up parade day.

They've pushed lawn mowers, driven in a military vehicle and, in recent years, appeared in a yellow school bus. Everyone dresses in orange and green to throw salted shell peanuts to parade crowds instead of candy.

Says Lee: "We have a wonderful time."

The Irish Couch Potatoe Neighborhood Group expresses its deep thanks to Blackburn Brothers for taking all the crap we give them.