Boston's Super Bowl parade to draw hearty fans amid massive snow piles

[February 04, 2015]  By Tim McLaughlin
 
 BOSTON (Reuters) - Despite a pair of record-setting snowstorms, die-hard New England Patriots fans are expected to hit the streets of Boston on Wednesday to celebrate their team's Super Bowl victory with a downtown parade.

The parade, held in World War Two-era amphibious trucks known as "duck boats," will go on amid snow drifts that are piled 6 feet (1.8 meter) high in places after Boston received more than 40 inches (1 meter) of accumulation over the past week.

Mayor Marty Walsh had initially scheduled the parade for Tuesday, but he pushed it back until 11 a.m. Wednesday due to a heavy Monday snowfall.

He warned parade-goers not to climb on snowbanks to try to get a closer look at players including star quarterback Tom Brady and Malcolm Butler, the rookie whose interception in the final seconds sealed Sunday's victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

"I'm asking you not to climb on snowbanks ... it's very dangerous," Walsh told reporters, adding that he was convinced the parade could be held safely despite the snow.

"A lot of people are excited about a parade, they want a parade. It's what we've done," Walsh said. "If I felt it was going to be a public safety issue, we would cancel it."The parade route begins at Prudential Tower and ends at City Hall, but it will not feature the traditional City Hall rally afterward, because of cold temperatures and snow.

Patriots fans are calling Sunday night's game one of the best Super Bowls in history. The team clinched its fourth National Football League championship after a heart-stopping sequence of plays in the game's final minutes.

(Reporting by Tim McLaughlin; Editing by Scott Malone and Eric Beech)

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