Sunday, November 22, 2009 East Central Illinois
Unofficial St. Patrick's Day 2008

Unofficial comes to official end as rain, fatigue start to set in

By: Pam G. Dempsey

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Sunday, March 08, 2009
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Photo by: Robert K. O'Daniell

From left University of Illinois 2008 graduate Mara Eisenstein, UI 2008 graduate Cassie Carroll UI junior Anthony Santarelli stand by a pile of recyclables Saturday that they collected after Unofficial St. Patrick's Day. They were at the UI Illini Waste Transfer Station in Champaign.

URBANA – All that was noticeably missing from Campustown Saturday were the sprays of green T-shirts and dozens of beer cans and bottles as Unofficial St. Patrick's Day came to a close.

The 13-year-old event, which began Thursday night, has morphed into a two-day drinking binge across Campustown that draws both local students and out-of-town partygoers.

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A group of volunteers, representing several organizations including Students for Environmental Concern, spent Saturday morning collecting at least 150 pounds of aluminum cans from various locations.

The cans were donated to Green Energy Team, a new nonprofit organization that plans to use the cans to make solar-powered heaters for low-income families.

"We wanted to shed a positive light after a negative day at the university," said 2008 alum Cassie Carroll, who is a member of Students for Environmental Concern.

The group started the practice last year and collected 450 pounds of aluminum cans, including those from fraternities and sororities.

This year, volunteers left those houses to those who joined them from the Green Energy Team and picked up cans and trash from 14 properties around campus.

Anonymous e-mails containing addresses for clean-up efforts were sent to the group after volunteers promoted what they had planned to do.

Temporary restrictions on bar owners, such as increasing the entry age from 19 to 21, prompted many to seek their fun among the private parties in neighboring houses and apartments.

The police increased their focus there as well.

By 5:45 a.m. Saturday, police had issued 267 citations – 103 were for public possession of alcohol and 106 were for underage drinking, according to a report.

Police said Friday night that the warm weather – with temperatures reaching 72 – prompted a busier night.

Earlier in the evening, a man in his 20s fell three stories after attempting to climb from a third-floor balcony to a fourth-floor balcony in the 800 block of South Fourth Street.

He was hospitalized and police are investigating the incident. His condition remained unavailable.

By Saturday evening, the parties had quieted down.

A few people remaining behind said Saturday was a day for recovery, though a liquor store on the corner of First and Healey streets offered reinforcements.

Unofficial fans went in empty-handed but shortly returned with one or two brown paper bags. Once or twice, customers were followed by a store clerk who rolled out a keg on a dolly to their waiting car.

Chris Kosrowski, 21, of Spring Grove said he arrived at 2 p.m. Friday for the fun – late by his standards.

Within a couple of hours, he was punched on the face by a couple of guys.

The bruise was still swollen Saturday night.

The rain didn't help, either.

"It killed the buzz," Kosrowski said. "I think most people went inside anyway."

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