By Richard Kerns
rkerns@newstribune.info
tribune staff writer

KEYSER — Downtown Keyser will be going green Tuesday night, with Main Street blocked off for a St. Patrick’s Day bash at Marty’s Hot Dog Stand.
The Irish festival, which begins at 3 p.m., will feature two bands, a roast pig, corned beef and cabbage and, in fine St. Patrick’s Day tradition, a fair share of suds.
“We’ll have Irish games and music, we’re going to have a heck of a time,” said Keith “Big Lou” Lewis, manager of Marty’s Hot Dog Stand.
Four other Keyser bars are sponsoring a pub crawl that night — The Orioles Club, Gianni’s Pizza, Jo Jo’s, Clancy’s and the Stray
Cat Cafe — and Lewis expects the crawl to wind down Main Street to the festival.
Proceeds from the festival will benefit a fire fund for Lewis’ son Trevor and his girlfriend Stephanie Growden — a former Keyser High School teacher — who recently lost their home in Oakland to fire.
“We’re not going to make anything on this,” Keith Lewis said. “We’ll probably lose money on it.”
As with the Friday Nite Live summer concerts, the nighttime air will be scented by the aroma of roast pig, with Lewis doing the roasting honors in a lot behind Marty’s. Lewis recently acquired five hogs in anticipation of other holidays and celebrations slated for downtown.
“It’s become a big draw for downtown,” he said of the pig roasts.
Admission to the event at Marty’s is just $15, which includes “eats, drinks and a T-shirt.”
The bands will be set up on Main Street and in the back yard area. Slated to perform are Joes’s Garage from Romney and Dragon Dick from Oakland. The bands will begin playing at 5 p.m.
Keyser City Councilman Dave Sowers, who helped spearhead downtown festivals as the founder of the Friday Nite Live concerts in August, said the St. Patrick’s Day event marks the beginning of warm-weather festivals that will continue downtown through the fall. Sowers said he hoped other downtown merchants would take advantage of the festival and offer their own St. Patrick’s Day specials.
“It’s nice to see businesses that want to continue the celebration of these events,” Sowers said. “This is all about having fun and helping the downtown.”
Five dollars from each admission will go to the fund for the Oakland fire victims. In addition, a mad-dash race will be held, pitting Keith “The Rolling Rocket” Lewis against Fred “The Hair” Wilson, with the event featuring a 100 yard dash, a run through the bar to the barbecue pit out back, where the contestants must chug three mugs of suds, then return to the band out front and dance an Irish jig. Festival-goers will be able to pick the winner and the winning time, with half of the proceeds from the betting benefitting the fire victims.
Lewis, whose establishment has played a prominent role in Friday Nite Live and other Main Street events, said the St. Patrick’s Day celebration is part of the ongoing effort to draw people to downtown shops and businesses. “We’re just trying to keep downtown alive,” he said.