KYRA: Good morning Cozeman … hey!! What are you wearing now?!

COZEMAN: Well I’m wearing my St. Patrick’s Day ensemble of course … geesh! Why aren’t you wearing green today young Lady?

KYRA: Why would I be wearing green Cozeman? And how do you get that hat to stay on anyways?(The other Nuggets begin to slowly arrive at Nuggetville, one after the other)

EMMA: Oh Cozy!! You look sooooo cute! Let me give you a belly rub as soon as I get my coat and shoes off!

CLAY: Hey Cozeman, where did you get the snazzy outfit? I thought tomorrow was St. Patrick’s Day, not today?JENA: It is Clay … Cozy’s a day early. Guess you didn’t learn how to read a calendar yet Cozeman, eh?

COZEMAN: What??? Gail got out my green outfit and made me put it on before you Nuggets all arrived?! This must be some sort of joke! I’d better have a little snack to make me feel better. (Cozy begins chowing down on his snacks)

BROOKE: Hi everybody! Cozeman … (Brooke laughing hysterically) why are you dressed in green today … St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow you silly goose! And I don’t even know why we have to dress in green and I don’t even know who St. Patrick is?

NUGGETS: Me neither?COZEMAN: Oh really? Well if you all stop laughing long enough, I just might tell you who St. Patrick was. And I might even leave my outfit on while I tell you if you give me …

EMMA: Belly rubs?!!COZEMAN: You got it blue eyes. Let me have a little drink of water to wet my whistle before I begin … now:St. Patrick, is known as the patron Saint of Ireland. But for all his celebrity, his life remains a mystery. Many of the stories you hear about him, like how he got rid of all the snakes from Ireland, are false. Tall tales with no proof.

BROOKE: Snakes? I never heard that before? And where’s Ireland Cozy?

COZEMAN: Ireland is an Island next to England, Scotland and Wales. If you took a ship across this Atlantic Ocean that you see right here in our backyard and headed north east for about 4 days or so … you’d find Ireland!

EMMA: Could we kayak there Cozeman, like when we kayaked over to the green buoy off Lawlor’s Island last summer?

COZEMAN: No, Emma. You’d need a very large ship … like one of those cruise ships that you see come in every summer morning into Halifax Harbour. And you have to be on it for about 4 sleeps. Now, we do know that St. Patrick was born in Britain to wealthy parents near the end of the fourth century and he is believed to have died on March 17, around 460 A.D. That’s why we have St. Patrick’s Day on that date.At the age of sixteen, Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who were attacking his family's estate. They took him to Ireland where he spent six years in prison (some say that’s not true). During this time, he worked as a shepherd, outdoors and away from people. Lonely and afraid, he started praying a lot.

JENA: Poor guy, he was just a teenager. I’m almost a teenager! So I still don’t get why we wear green Cozeman?

COZEMAN: Well … could someone fix my scarf please? Thanks Kyra. I’m getting to that. After more that 6 years as a prisoner, Patrick escaped. According to his writing, a voice (which he believed to be God's) spoke to him in a dream, telling him it was time to leave Ireland.To do so, Patrick walked nearly 200 miles. That must have been hard on his feet. They didn’t have comfy sneakers in those days like you guys do. My paws would be awfully sore! After escaping to Britain, Patrick said that an Angel in a dream told him to return to Ireland to help people. People that were scared and lonely like him. Soon after, Patrick began religious training, and he studied for more than fifteen years.

CLAY: 15 years?!! I won’t even be in school that long? Of course, I will be if I go to University I suppose. I’m going to be a Palaeontologist you know. They’re very smart and they study dinosaur bones!!KYRA: Yes we know Clay … we remember how good you tell the Jurassic Park stories word for word.

JENA: You guys! Keep going Cozeman, this is interesting!COZEMAN: Well, after he became a Priest, he was sent to Ireland to teach people about Christianity. He had different ways of teaching than most people. For instance, he used bonfires to celebrate Easter since the Irish were used to honouring their gods with fire. He also added a sun, a powerful Irish symbol, onto the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross (at least that’s what I heard).

BROOKE: Ok already, so why do we wear green? And why do we colour shamrocks in school?

COZEMAN: Well, my dear, they say that St. Patrick used the 3 leaf clover (or shamrock) to teach people about Christianity. In ancient Ireland, the Celtic people (they lived in Ireland) believed the shamrock was a sacred plant because when they saw it starting to grow … it meant that Spring was coming. Winter was over, warmth was on its’ way! And they liked that.

EMMA: Cozy! But why do we have to wear green?!!

COZEMAN: Jeepers! You guys need to learn a little more patience, and I’ve got to tell you … it’s hard remembering things without someone rubbing my belly. I don’t even know if I can remember your names without my belly being rubbed?

CLAY: Ok, Ok, Cozy … I’ll rub your belly. Now why do we wear green … I can’t wait any longer! I think I’m going to lose my breath and faint and never return to Nuggetville if I don’t know the answer! I think I might turn into a vampire or some sort of crazy animal with large fangs and blood-shot eyes, and …

EMMA: Oh my gosh Clay … you’re so dramatic. Cozy please!!!!

COZEMAN: Well, believe it or not … the ‘wearing of the green’ was to wear a shamrock on your clothing. Shamrock leaves are green! The Irish would wear shamrocks as a symbol of pride in their Country and over many years this shamrock became associated with … St. Patrick’s Day! You know, because he used the shamrock to teach with too. Sometimes it’s funny how traditions get started. This didn’t all happen at once, it happened over many years.

BROOKE: But we don’t live in Ireland so why do we wear green?

COZEMAN: There are lots of people that live here in Canada whose Families moved over from Ireland, Scotland, Germany, China, Italy … from everywhere in the entire world. We have many different cultures in our Country and it’s really cool when we learn about them all. It’s even more fun when we get to celebrate each other’s holidays! And the more people we get to know … the more Holidays we can celebrate!

KYRA: That’s right Brooke … I think my Family came over from Ireland. I’ll definitely be wearing green tomorrow.

CLAY: And my Family came over from Germany! We all come from somewhere different and we’re all still really good friends.

COZEMAN: That’s right Nuggets. It doesn’t matter where you come from or what you look like or what language you speak … we can all be friends and enjoy learning about each other’s traditions. Wouldn’t it be boring if we were all exactly the same? Who would rub my belly if everybody was a white, fluffy dog? So … are you guys going to wear green tomorrow? Or maybe a 3 leaf clover, you know: a shamrock? Now that you know all about St. Patrick’s Day maybe you’ll feel more like joining in the celebrations. Of course, it will be hard to top my adorable outfit! I wonder if they sell green dog bones at the grocery store?

NUGGETS: Cozy!