On Sunday, February 22, the North Platte Catholic Schools will hold the 40th annual Irish Fest celebration at St. Patrick’s High School, 500 S. Silber, from 12:00 Noon to 3:00 p.m.

Organizers say the entire community is invited to the event, which features a homemade turkey and noodles dinner served from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., mini carnival games and prizes, Fun Jumpz, a silent auction, bake sale, and raffle.

This year’s Irish Fest Raffle offers a 55” HDTV, $1,000 cash, a $500 Kwik Stop Gift Card, a $500 SCRIP certificate, and a 10” tablet computer. Raffle sponsors are: Bill Summers Ford, Computer Troubleshooters, and Kwik Stop.

Raffle tickets are $2.00 each (or 10 for $15) and are on sale now through Sunday.

They can be purchased from any McDaid or St. Patrick’s student, at the North Platte Catholic Schools Endowment, 601 S. Tabor, or at McDaid and St. Patrick’s schools.

Raffle tickets will also be sold at Irish Fest.

The raffle drawing will take place at 2:50 p.m. on Sunday, the 22nd . You do not have to be present to win.

The event originally called “Mardi Gras” was first celebrated by the North Platte Catholic Schools on Tuesday, February 11, 1975. In the early years it was held on “Fat Tuesday” prior to the start of the Lenten season. Later it was changed to Sunday, and has been a tradition since.

For the past 40 years, Irish Fest has involved hundreds of volunteers and proceeds have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to the operating budget of the North Platte Catholic School system.