HOT SPRINGS NATIONAL PARK, Arkansas — “We are always aware of the need to include attractions for the kids,” said Visit Hot Springs CEO Steve Arrison, “so we are really pleased that FLW fishing legend Charlie Evans and characters from the ‘PAW Patrol’ show will be back in March for First Ever 20th Annual World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown Hot Springs on March 17.”
“They were a great hit in the 2022 parade, and the return of Charlie and the ‘PAW Patrol’ characters will appeal to adults and kids alike in the 2023 parade,” Arrison said.
A competitive angler since 1971, Evans is the former FLW Outdoors president and CEO. In addition to his other roles at FLW Outdoors, Evans hosted the “FLW Outdoors” television show on Versus Country.
After leaving FLW Outdoors in 2010 Evans started his second career as a professional angler. Evans was inducted into the Freshwater Hall of Fame in 2013.
His Bass Pro Shops/PAW Patrol tournament rig, which will be in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, is the most photographed boat and tow vehicle in the history of the sport.
“PAW Patrol” is an animated series that premiered on Nickelodeon in the United States in 2013. The series focuses on a young boy named Ryder who leads a crew of search-and-rescue dogs that call themselves the PAW Patrol. They work together on missions to protect the shoreside community of Adventure Bay.
Each dog has a specific set of skills based on emergency services professions, such as a firefighter, police officer and aviation pilot. They all reside in doghouses that transform into customized vehicles for their missions. They are also equipped with backpacks called “pup packs” that contain tools that relate to the pups’ jobs.
The show and its associated products have received a variety of awards and nominations from associations such as the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in the United States.
Evans and the two “PAW Patrol” characters will join country music star Justin Moore and film star Chris McDonald as celebrity grand marshal and official starter, respectively, for the world-famous 98-foot parade on Bridge Street, the shortest street in the world in everyday use.
The parade, which began in 2003, annually attracts crowds of upwards of 30,000 people to watch an insanely zany collection of Irish Elvis impersonators, marching units such as Paddy O’Furniture, Irish belly dancers and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, as well as other unique units cover the 98-foot length of Bridge Street in the heart of downtown Hot Springs.
For more information call Steve Arrison at 501-321-2027.