OCEAN CITY – This weekend will be the largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Ocean City’s history, and event organizers reflected this week on how the day has grown over the years.
The 31st Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival, sponsored by the Delmarva Irish-American Club (DIAC), returns to the streets of Ocean City on Saturday, March 17.
“It starts at high noon and we’re never late,” said parade organizer Buck Mann.Mann said that the parade first started out with two or three cars and a handful of participants. At the time, the DIAC had a few members and agreed to hold the parade on St. Patrick’s Day every day no matter what day it fell on.
According to Dennis Roarty, member of the Board of Directors and past president of the DIAC, Mann and Mayor Rick Meehan took over the parade in its second year and have grown it into an enormous event today. At the time, Mann owned an Irish bar on the Boardwalk, McGee’s (now Shenanigan’s), and convinced the club to have the parade on a Saturday, and with Meehan’s help they secured the 45th Street Village parking lot for the festival grounds.
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