People lined both sides of Jackson Street, and the stoplights shone green to match the mood of celebration on Saturday evening in downtown Muncie.
The city's annual St. Patrick's Day parade saw clear skies, warm temperatures and a large turnout as tens of floats sporting shamrock and leprechaun decorations looped around downtown Muncie and tossed candy to eagerly waiting children.
"There's lots and lots of people, lots of enthusiasm," said Wilma Underhill, a Girl Scout leader who walked along with the Girl Scouts' float - a trailer decorated with St. Patrick's Day garland and carrying girls from the troop. The girls threw Milky Way and 3 Musketeer miniature candy bars to onlookers as they progressed along the parade route.
Police officers in bright vests had to repeatedly ask parade watchers to step behind the traffic lines on Walnut Street near the start of the route. Onlooker Linda Davis said children, anxious to gather up candy, forced some onlookers to find a different place to watch the parade.
"Everybody was just going out in front so we got out and moved where it was quieter," Davis said from the curb of largely empty Mulberry Street near the end of the parade route.
Davis brought two Boston terriers, Tyson and Temperance, who wore festive green handkerchiefs around their necks and drew the attention of nearly every other float in the parade. One woman walking with the float of commissioner candidate Sherry Riggin came over to see the dogs and told Davis, "I like these kinds of kids watching the parade - they don't go like this," extending her hands in the gesture of asking for candy.
Davis laughed and said she had also noticed children being a little greedy.
"I feel really bad about saying it, but it's just sick how greedy kids are these days," Davis said. "It's the ones that are bad that stick out so much. Kids need manners."
Otherwise, Davis said the parade was "fabulous." She said she had never been to a St. Patrick's Day parade before, but came to this one with the dogs and her grandmother to see her uncle, who drove the bus in the AMVETS float.
"It's fun; you get to see people," Davis said. "It brings the community out and gets everyone involved."
Jorietta Stout, another Girl Scout leader, also said the parade was a great community activity, and emphasized the importance of the event for children.
"It's the one time that the kids are the main focus, actually," Stout said, laughing. "I can remember going to these as a kid."
Ten-year-old Macy Serf, a student at Longfellow Elementary, showed off a handful of green peppermints and said her favorite part of the parade was collecting candy. She said she loved the parade because she got to see some friends from school marching in it, and she loved St. Patrick's Day because she got to pinch people.
"You get to wear green," Serf said. "It makes me think of the rainbow and of trees."
As one of the last floats in the parade, a sports car playing Flo Rida's "Good Feeling," passed, ten-year-old Dewayne Govan, also a student at Longfellow, said he enjoyed the parade because there were lots of cars and music. He said he got about 20 pieces of candy from the parade, and was most excited about a discount card for Ritter's frozen custard.
"It's the best day ever," Govan said.
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