OCEAN CITY –For the third time in 34 years the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Ocean City was canceled too much dismay but for reasons out official’s control.
Around 9:30 a.m. last Saturday morning as the rain poured down in Ocean City it was announced, “Today’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been canceled due to the weather and the public safety concerns of the parade participants and spectators.”
“No one is more disappointed about having to cancel the parade then many of our town employees,” Ocean City Communications Manager Jessica Waters said. “It’s an event that we plan and prepare for, for quite some time. Not to mention, it’s so fun.”
According to Waters, the weather forecast didn’t call for rain to hit Ocean City until Saturday afternoon leaving parade officials hopeful and having the parade carry on as planned Friday leading into Saturday.
“The rain started much earlier than expected and the conditions became a concern for safety,” she said. “Along with the rain, the fog and the visibility of spectators, parade participants and units and employees/police officers. Also, the bleachers were extremely slick and there was standing water in the roadway. As the morning progressed, the concerns of parade and public safety officials continued to rise and it was determined that the potential risk for safety was the highest priority. Fortunately, there were a number of local businesses that were hosting parties and the majority of spectators were able to find something fun and festive to do instead. Personally, my family kept on our green attire and headed into town for lunch, shopping and arcades and although we weren’t able to have the parade we made the best of the day in Ocean City. I am already asking for the luck of the Irish for next year’s weather.”
At the conclusion of Monday evening’s Mayor and City Council meeting Mayor Rick Meehan, who helps organize the parade, thanked all of those who stood behind the parade.
“We apologize it did not occur on Saturday,” he said. “We waited to try to get the parade off because of the thousands of people who come to town for it, but it did become a public safety issue on Saturday morning, and the parade was canceled. I would like to thank everybody who came to town and all those who planned to participate in the event and contribute to the event.”
The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade is sponsored by the Delmarva Irish-American Club (DIAC), and the event has grown to be the second largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the State of Maryland.
The DIAC was founded in 1980 and the first membership drive resulted in 75 members. Today, the membership totals more than 300 and is open to anyone who is Irish, of Irish descent or just likes things Irish. The club has awarded over $250,000 for scholarships to local students from the proceeds of previous parades.
According to Buck Mann of DIAC, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade started out with only a few cars and a handful of participants. At that time DIAC was just starting out, and the small membership agreed to hold the parade on St. Patrick’s Day no matter what day it fell on.
According to Dennis Roarty, past president of DIAC, Mann and Mayor Meehan took over the parade in its second year, and have grown it into an enormous event today. At that time Mann owned an Irish bar on the boardwalk, McGee’s, and convinced the club to have the parade on a Saturday. With Meehan’s help they secured the 45th Street Village parking lot for the festival grounds where the celebration remains to this day.
Hand-in-hand the DIAC and the St. Patrick’s Day parade took off to where over 100 parade entries are expected each year and over 100,000 people crowd the streets to take part in the festivities.