JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – The mixing of St. Patrick's Day with spring break made for an eventful night at Jacksonville Beach as police geared up for large crowds of all ages.
News4Jax spoke with one man who could have been legally celebrating in Irish bars since Franklin Roosevelt was president.
"I'm 98 years old. Well, I'm chasing girls, but I don't catch 'em because they'll kill me," said Art Singleton.
With his son, grandson and walker at his side Art Singleton said he doesn't miss a chance to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
"We always celebrate it with drinks and beer and party and dyed our hair green. My son, Danny, has helped me keep it up and my friends," said Singleton.
"Well, dad is 98, so I've been doing it for about 45 years, actually. Spraying the hair green, going and putting on and celebrating the Irish," Danny Singleton said.
While Singleton may be out to paint the town green, it's likely he's not the reason why Jacksonville Beach police had more than a dozen extra officers on the streets Tuesday night with the combination of spring break and festive holiday.
"Any time you have that many people that go to a party or whatever you always have the propensity for something to happen, so you have to have people in place," said Cmdr. Mark Evans.
The officers are on foot, Segways and in cruisers, attempting to keep the peace if partiers get a little out of hand and drink a little too much green beer.
"Usually it's non-stop pictures, which is fun. Dad enjoys that and all the people we get to meet when we come out on St. Paddy's Day," Dan Singleton said.
The police have learned lessons on dealing with chaos at the beach. On Memorial Day in 2013 there was a huge brawl broke out on the Seawalk Pavilion.
The shooting that happened this past weekend in the same spot. The police response time for that was 20 seconds.