Thousands Attend 56th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade
CHICAGO (CBS) - In Chicago this weekend, it is easy being green.
Thousands of people flocked to the Chicago River between Michigan and Wabash to watch the annual dyeing of the river green. Then they flocked through downtown streets and over to the parade rute on Columbus Drive, for the 56th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.
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It wouldn't be a St. Patrick's Day Parade in Chicago without politicians, and Mayor Daley was at the head of the parade with a host of other notables, including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.
Daley and his wife Maggie were this year's grand marshals. Maggie Daley rode just behind the front line of dignitaries in a beautifully-restored, mint-green 1956 Buick Century convertible.
This year's parade queen, DePaul University student Sarah Gorecki, is no stranger to Chicago St. Patrick's Day celebrations. She said she has marched in the parade since she was a "wee one," usually with the Irish Fellowship Society. Her aunt is a former grand marshal.
She said she found it a special honor to be named parade queen in Daley's final parade as mayor of Chicago.
Gorecki wore her queen's tiara and a floor-length emerald green shawl. She rode in a horse-drawn carriage, filled with younger family members.
The members of the queen's court each rode separately, the rest in sports cars provided by a local dealership.
Although many of the thousands who lined Columbus Drive, between Balbo and Monroe,were from Chicago and the suburbs, it was not difficult to find out-of-towners in the crowd who have heard about Chicago's St. Patrick's Day celebrations and wanted to experience it first-hand.
One woman, from Louisville, said she found it "delightful."
