Thursday certainly wasn't the first St. Patrick's Day celebration for many in the Valley, but it was the first one that looked and felt like the ones we're all used to since the pandemic.

It was also the first one for West 34 in downtown Youngstown.
They're chalking it up as a win.

"Great weather and to just be back in downtown Youngstown trying to do a great adventure on St. Patrick's Day," said owner Chris Davis, Sr.

"It's fantastic, even better than we could've ever expected," said Mike French, co-owner of Frenchy's Irish Pub in Austintown, which hosted an even bigger celebration.

"We had about 3,000 people here maybe last year and we've had over 10,000 come through here today," French said.

Among them were Sherry Moss and her husband.
Having lived in Austintown all her life and after staying away from last year's festivities, "it's so wonderful just to be around people again," Moss said. "It's been a rough past two years, we've all felt it and we've all lived through it and we're just so grateful to be around people again."

Combine that with picture perfect weather, and you could claim the luck of the Irish for us all on this St. Patrick's Day.