It’s a “wonderful community gathering,” said Diane Irwin, president of the Tyrone Area Chamber of Commerce.

Irwin said everyone is encouraged to wear green and celebrate the borough’s Scotch Irish founders and early pioneers who came to the area from Northern Ireland.

Events range from an Irish cookie crawl and an Irish storytime to an Irish dog fashion show.

There’ll be fundraisers for a family in need and the local library, a parade, vendor booths, a race and fireworks, organizers said.

Tyrone Borough Highway Department Superintendent Jim Bywater runs strings of green lights around the railings at City Park Hotel. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

With so many events going on, Irwin said it’s a wonderful time for the community to embrace each other’s heritage and enjoy themselves.

“We have a lot of people who are working on these events to put it together for the community and have some fun,” she said.

Kicking off the events Thursday is a fundraiser sale at Bake Shop Bakes. Owner Andy Hoover said the bakery will likely sell 400 to 500 pies throughout the day. For every pie sold, Bake Shop Bakes and S&C Contracting will donate $2 to a family whose 1-year-old daughter was diagnosed with tetralogy of fallot, a birth defect that affects normal blood flow through the heart.

Hoover said the bakery does the fundraiser every year to help a family in need.

Also Thursday, the “Luck of the Irish” rummage sale to benefit the Friends of the Tyrone-Snyder Public Library will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. at the library.

For those looking for a bite to eat after a day spent shopping, an Irish dinner will be available from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Church of the Good Shepherd along Clay Avenue.

Friday’s festivities begin with an Irish cookie crawl — from 5 to 8 p.m. — stopping at businesses along Pennsylvania Avenue and 10th Street, said Rose Black, the chamber’s executive director.

The evening will be highlighted by the 6 p.m. lighting of the shamrock ceremony at Hotel City Park, 1009 Pennsylvania Ave., she said, adding that former WTAJ meteorologist Christy Shields will read to children during Irish storytime at 6:30 p.m.

The day will wrap up with a fireworks display about 8 p.m.

Getting an early start Saturday, Bake Shop Bakes will offer free cupcakes to children up to 16 years. Beginning at 8 a.m., they’ll get the opportunity to decorate their own treat, Hoover said, noting the event will last throughout the day.

“As long as somebody wants to come in and decorate one, we’ll always have them there,” he said. “We just want to see the kids come in and enjoy the Irish atmosphere that Tyrone brings.”

Also getting an early start, the Tyrone Race Series’ fourth-annual Gold Rush 5K and 10K will kick off at 8:30 a.m., with a kids race scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Both events start at the Tyrone Armory, 956 S. Logan Ave., with proceeds benefiting Camp Anderson’s capital campaign project, Black said.

Saturday is full of activities, she said, as vendors will be selling goods from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. along 10th Street, and a Top of the Morning Irish dog fashion show will take place along Logan Avenue, beginning at 10 a.m.

The Horseshoe Cloggers will perform at 11 a.m. at the Hotel City Park, and from noon to 2 p.m., also at the park, balloon artist Bob Smith will craft free balloon animals for kids while Celtic-rock band Full Kilt provides a “good feel and vibe,” said guitarist Mike Zerbee.

Smith said he’s looking forward to providing the balloons and smiles for the kids.

“We make a wide variety of balloon creations, and we’re making some special St. Patrick’s Day creations,” he said.

Zerbee said playing during the Tyrone Irish heritage weekend is something he looks forward to each year, especially when the weather is nice. Over the last few years, he said the sunny and warmer weather has attracted many people who stop and listen to the band’s “upbeat and energetic” music.

The group plays traditional Irish music “that’s been rock ‘n’ rolled up or sometimes we do it the opposite way, and we take a rock ‘n’ roll song and make it more Celtic,” Zerbee said.

The Luck of the Irish parade will start at 2 p.m. Saturday on Lincoln Avenue and proceed through town, ending at the Armory Tyrone Community Center.

The events wind down Sunday with a $30 “paint and sip” event set for 2 p.m. at Calvary, Tyrone, and a 7 p.m. Irish worship church service at the Church of the Good Shepherd.

For more information about the schedule of events, contact the Tyrone Area Chamber of Commerce at 814-684-0736 or check out the website and Facebook page.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.