Some businesses expect to bring in more green today

LYNN ? St. Patrick’s Day may have once conjured images of a man wielding a stick to drive the snakes from the Emerald Isle, but these days this most Irish of holidays is more about green beer, brisket, parades and shamrocks.While climate scientists dispute whether there were ever any snakes to chase, suggesting the entire story was blarney, St. Patrick’s Day remains a festive occasion, not only for the celebrants but those who turn a small profit because of it.At Salvy the Florist in Lynn, green carnation sales were booming Monday and were expected to escalate through today.”Tomorrow we’ll see a spike in green carnations. After that, we don’t sell another one ’til next March,” said florist Salvy Migliaccio. “We generally sell them to schools, to businesses, to people going out for festivities during the day. Some will stop in for a dozen to hand out. If you’re wearing a green carnation boutineer it shows you’re ready to celebrate.”Customers at iParty on Route 1 in Saugus were grabbing up all sorts of items festooned with shamrocks and colored green. A store manager who did not want to be identified said paper goods and decorative merchandise have been selling steadily for the past several days, particularly wearables like buttons that say ‘Kiss Me I’m Irish’ or ‘I’m Irish’ and ‘Happy St. Patrick’s Day’.The meat and produce departments at Shaw’s and Stop & Shop supermarkets in Lynn and Swampscott were busy as shoppers purchased corned beef or brisket along with cabbage, potatoes and other vegetables. Some markets were giving customers a five-pound bag of potatoes for free with every purchase of a corned beef or brisket.Beer sales, of course, play a key role in the holiday commerce, as do Irish fare specials at restaurants throughout the North Shore.”We’re stocked up on Guinness, which we have on tap,” said Tom Dill, owner of the Lazy Dog restaurant and pub in Wyoma Square. “We have a full day planned of entertainment and an Irish-only food menu, a lamb stew, corned beef and cabbage and shepherd’s pie.”Dill said St. Patrick’s Day also ramps up the consumption of other Irish bar favorites, such as Smithwick’s Ale, Magner’s Irish Cider and the island nation’s premiere whiskeys – Jameson and Bushmills.