GIRARDVILLE - Despite rain, Irish pride shone through Saturday for the ninth annual St. Patrick's Day parade, sponsored by the Ancient Order of Hibernians Jack Kehoe Divison 1.
Parade Chairman John P. "Mouche" McNelis said before the parade that with the weather, he wasn't sure if it would slow people down, but they were still expecting about 15,000 spectators.
"As far as I know, I've been getting a lot of calls from people outside the area that were coming," McNelis said. "Looking at the streets so far, it's filling up pretty much as normal. I think we're right on schedule."
McNelis also said that there were roughly 175 to 200 units that were registered for the event.
The grand marshals for the parade were Fred and Mary Rabbits.
One of the bands in attendance was the Ceol Mor Pipe and Drum Band from Wilkes-Barre, which Bob Smart, a member of the band, said is the top pipe and drum band in Luzerne County.
"We try to keep the band a whole family thing," he said. "The younger generation needs to take over because some of us are getting too old."
While vendors sold food and souvenirs along the streets, many in attendance also could be seen with alcohol in hand long before the parade began, although a new open container ordinance was recently adopted by the Girardville Borough Council.
An open container ordinance is nothing new in Girardville, but an enhanced version of the ordinance aimed to help police with more specific grounds for enforcement at all times of the year, including Saturday's parade.
Girardville Mayor Edward Burns said by telephone Saturday night that the parade "was quite well this year," being that the new ordinance was in effect
"There was very minimal arrests made," Burns said. "The crowd was very cooperative and we were very pleased with the crowd control."