BEVERLY — The South Side Irish have a new queen.
Mary Kate Love, 26, of Beverly was named South Side Irish Parade Queen on Saturday at a fundraiser ahead of the annual jaunt down Western Avenue.
Love will be featured prominently during the South Side Irish St. Patrick's Day Parade, which begins at noon March 15. She'll also ride in the downtown Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 14.
The newest South Side Parade queen is a graduate of Queen of Peace High School in suburban Burbank. Love works at UI Labs, a Chicago-based start-up that's dedicated to bringing universities and industry together.
Love was one of six candidates vying for the title. All potential queens were judged ahead of the 2015 South Side Irish Parade Pre-Parade Fundraiser at 115 Bourbon Street in suburban Merrionette Park.
The fundraiser helps cover a portion of the $200,000 that parade organizers have pay to put on the parade. This sum pays for portable toilets, parade permits and private security tasked with enforcing a zero-tolerance alcohol policy.
The party was attended by nearly 1,000 people. Organizers sent out a message via Twitter that the party hosts at 115 Bourbon Street even needed to open a second room to help with the overflow of guests.
As for Love, she's now eligible to compete in the the Chicago Rose of Tralee as the South Side Irish Rose. Should she win this competition, she'll receive an all-expense paid trip to Ireland and represent Chicago in a two-night televised event in Tralee, Ireland.
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