MILFORD, Pa. — People were already finding their spots along the parade route up to an hour before Milford's inaugural St. Patrick's Day Parade stepped off.
Samantha Balmforth came all the way from Stroudsburg to celebrate some Irish pride. She planned to arrive three hours early for the inaugural parade, "My husband said, "We don't need to get there that early. I just wanted to make sure to get a great seat. I wanna see everything. He wanted to put us on a corner seat, and I was like, "A corner seat!?" I gotta be where all the action is."
Everyone else had the same idea in mind.
"Yeah, so excited! 25 years I've been living up here dying for a parade in Milford, and it's finally here," said Patricia Cielinski, Dingman Township.
Some people traveled as far as three hours just to be here. Eileen Reim did just that.
"I came all the way from Shippensburg to see. About three and a half hours, yeah. She's my sister, so she told me about it, and we came down," said Eileen Reime, Cumberland Valley.
Caitlin Flores drove more than three hours too with her family to see the parade floats, bagpipe bands, cheerleaders, and even horses, "My parents live in Bushkill, but we're from Jersey, so we came up because we always love Milford, so we knew it would be good."
Flores' daughter says she was most excited about the candy.
"She might get a sugar rush from it, though," said Jasmine Flores.
There were even pups that got all dressed up and ready for the parade.
Most paradegoers were shocked by the turnout for Milford's first St. Patrick's Day Parade, and hope it becomes an annual tradition that gets even bigger next year.
"It's just something to happen for this community and bring it all together," said Tracy Touzalin, Dingmans Ferry Township.