Chances are, it will be cold. There will probably be at least a sign of snow in the air or on the ground. But what else would we expect in Erie around St. Patrick’s Day?

If you can get beyond the March weather, a neat way to celebrate the holiday for free is the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in downtown Erie.

This year’s event will take place Saturday, starting at 2 p.m. The parade will make its way north on State Street from 11th Street and then head east to St. Patrick Catholic Church at 130 E. Fourth St.

For more about the parade, visit http://www.saintpatrickparisherie.org/parade.html or call (814) 454-8085.

Goodwill’s Erie store is having a spring open house Saturday that features special sales, prizes and freebies.

The event will include free Erie BayHawks tickets, hot dogs and refreshments, gift baskets and extra chances to win a car.

Goodwill is giving donors one entry for an opportunity to win a 2010 Hyundai Elantra for each bag of donations given through April 26. During the open house, donors will receive double chances to win the car, according to an e-mail from Goodwill.

Donors who take donations to the site before March 29 also can receive free tickets to the Erie BayHawks basketball game on March 29 at 7 p.m. People who take a donation to the game that night also can get a free ticket, the e-mail said.

The open house will take place this Saturday at the store at 2601 W. 26th St. Store hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Donation hours are 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Call (814) 833-4501 or visit www.facebook.com/goodwillerie or www.eriegoodwill.org to learn more.

Sunday is Bob Sanders Day at the Erie Zoo and that means free admission from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

If seeing the animals isn’t enough for you, activities like face painting and crafts also will be available. Free coffee will be served from Tim Hortons. Also, special discounts will be offered at concession stands, according to the zoo’s website.

To learn more, visit www.eriezoo.org or call (814) 864-4091.

When I was exploring the Erie Otters website to see if they had any upcoming promotions of interest, I found a link to OHL Livestream, which is offering two days when you can watch hockey for free.

The fan appreciation days are today and Saturday and the list of Ontario Hockey League games I saw available at http://ohl.neulion.com/ohl/ included Erie at Owen Sound tonight at 7:30.

To watch for free, you have to enter the promo code OHLFree2012, according to the promo I saw. Single games usually cost $6.99, according to the site.

It’s Teacher Appreciation Weekend at the Erie BayHawks.

That means free tickets for teachers to the games tonight and Saturday at 7 p.m. at Erie Insurance Arena, 809 French St.

Also, according to the BayHawk’s Facebook page, you can receive a free ticket if you donate a gently used jacket to the Coats for Kids Drive.

For more information, call (814) 790-5600.

Sheetz is opening a new convenience store in the Erie area this week and the celebration includes a giveaway of $100 gift cards.

The store at 8180 Perry Highway in Summit Township officially opens Thursday at 11 a.m. But Sheetz officials said in a news release that they are expecting people to begin lining up before daybreak to be among the first 50 in line to get the gift cards.

To learn more about Sheetz, visit www.sheetz.com.

Where were you when the pizza bomber plot played out on upper Peach Street back in 2003?

Where will you be tonight?

If you’ve spent the past nine years following the fascinating infamous Erie case, you might want to head to Gannon University tonight.

Retired FBI agent and current Gannon professor Jerry Clark and Erie Times-News reporter Ed Palattella, one of my co-workers, wrote “Pizza Bomber: The Untold Story of America’s Most Shocking Bank Robbery.” If you have a copy of the new book, they’ll sign it for free tonight at 7 p.m. in the Yehl Ballroom at Gannon’s Waldron Campus Center, 124 W. Seventh St.

On Saturday from 1-3 p.m., they’ll be at Werner Books, 3514 Liberty St.

Panera Bread has a new site in Erie and that means grand opening specials this week.

The restaurant at 4014 Peach St. opens Tuesday at 6:30 a.m.

Beginning at 10 a.m., the first 500 guests will receive a free coffee mug with free refills for two weeks, according to a postcard I received at home in the mail.

Later Tuesday, and again Wednesday, if you purchase a You-Pick-Two, you can receive a $5 gift card for your next visit, according to the postcard.

To learn more about Panera, visit www.panerabread.com. When I checked out the site today, it didn’t yet list the new Erie store.

Here are a couple more upcoming sales in our area this week.

Elmwood Avenue Presbyterian Church will holds its annual sale on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at 2816 Elmwood Ave. Friday is $2 a bag day. Call (814) 864-4809 to learn more.

Lawrence Park United Methodist Church will hold its spring rummage sale on Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 4015 Niagara Place, Lawrence Park Township. The special 50-cent bag day is Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. Call (814) 899-9851 to learn more.

If you know of a church, nonprofit or similar organization holding a rummage, thrift, garage or next-to-new sale, send the details to me at dana.massing@timesnews.com so I can include them in a future blog post.

Spring means growing grass, budding trees, blooming flowers and rummage sales, where you can usually find used and sometimes even new items for a lot less than you’d pay in a store or online.

I’ll share the sales I hear about. If you know of a church, nonprofit or similar organization holding a rummage, thrift, garage or next-to-new sale, send the details to me at dana.massing@timesnews.com so I can include them in a future blog post.

One such sale starts tomorrow in Erie at 9 a.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 2216 Peach St. The sale goes Monday through 4 p.m. and then resumes Tuesday, which is bag day, from 9 a.m. to noon. Call (814) 456-7596 to learn more.