Thousands brave the cold at the Atlantic City St. Patrick's Day Parade.
ATLANTIC CITY -- A cold northwest wind greeted the thousands of participants and spectators who gathered on the boardwalk Saturday afternoon for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.
The parade kicked off north of the Garden Pier just around 1 p.m., with Mayor Don Guardian leading the way as this year's Grand Marshal. With temperatures hovering around 30 degrees, a 19 mph wind made it feel more like 17 degrees.
"As long as the wind settles down we will be ok," said Bill Logan, a retired Atlantic City police officer, who waited for the start of the parade with his granddaughter Vayda Jones Logan.
"Every year it gets better and better," said Logan.
Crowds were sparse as the parade traveled up the boardwalk, but quickly filled out as it reached Tennessee Avenue.
As the parade passed Texas Avenue, police had to hold the crowd back as young and old reached for beads, t-shirts and candy being thrown out by participants from their floats.
A group of firefighters from the Levittown Fire Department in New York made the trip to Atlantic City for a weekend stay and to honor their friend, Patrick Winberry.
Winberry, a former New York City police officer and a member of the fire department, died a year ago. Winberry and his friends were regulars at the parade.
Dressed in green sweatshirts that read "Team Pat," the group stood outside the Tropicana Casino and Resort and made a toast to Winberry minutes after the parade passed by.
The group has traveled to Atlantic City for the past ten years to watch the parade.
"Good crowd, fabulous," said Matt Giudice, a Levittown fireman. "Always a good time down here."
Tom Lynch, another Levittown fireman added, "We want to see Atlantic City succeed."
Tim Hawk may be reached at thawk@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @photogthawk. Find NJ.com on Facebook.