Philly Parade Grand Marshal Kathy McGee Burns.
There were more than 200 groups marching, about half a dozen Pope Francis imitators (and one Elvis), and in some places the crowds were five- and six-people deep, despite the bitter cold temps and wind that swept up the Parkway like an icy punch. That’s the definition of success for the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade which went off without a hitch on Sunday.
Many of the Saturday parades were called or postponed, so along with Philly Grand Marshal Kathy McGee Burns, who was president of the parade association for two years, there were two other grand marshals in the parade–Mickey McBride from the Conshohocken parade (postponed till March 28), who marched with McGee Burns at her invitation, and William McCusker, GM of the cancelled Springfield Township, Delco, parade, who marched with Cardinal O’Hara High School, where he served as president for 13 years. Parade Director Michael Bradley contacted all the organizers of the parades that were weather casualties and invited them to join in Philly’s celebration.
At one point he delighted the crowds at the reviewing stand by donning a curly Irish dancer wig for a time as he coordinated between the parade participants and the CW-Philly and CBS3 crew filming the event. He later explained that he did it to cheer up McDade-Cara dance school owners Sheila McGrory Sweeney and Maureen Heather Lisowski, whose father, John McGrory, died recently.
We were there from beginning to end with four photographers. Click on the links below to view our photos.
