The 13th annual Bronx St. Patrick’s Day Parade promises to be bigger and better than ever, thanks to the contributions of the parade committee and the community.
The celebration of Irish-American heritage and the diverse communities that make up the borough kicks off from the corner of Lafayette and E. Tremont avenues at noon at Sunday, March 13, and marches toward the reviewing stand at Harding Avenue and E. Tremont Avenue.
This year’s grand marshals are veteran’s advocate Pat Devine, educator Mary Holt More, and honored clergy Sister Christine Hennessay.
Before the parade begins at 9 a.m., there will be a mass at St. Benedict’s Church celebrating the lives of the 17 honorary grand marshals, people who are posthumously honored for service to their communities and lives lived by example, followed by a breakfast for the parade marchers in Fr. Albert Hall sponsored by James McQuade, the owner of Schuyler Hill Funeral Home.
“We are very fortunate that James McQuade stepped in and sponsored the parade breakfast, which is a big undertaking,” said Devine. “In addition, we should always be very grateful for the work the entire committee, and I would especially like to single out volunteer Kathy Gallagher, who is really going the extra mile by reaching out to bars and restaurants along E. Tremont Avenue for a t-shirt sale fund raiser.”
Manhattan Beer has once again donated 500 commemorative T-shirts for the event, with a logo designed by local artist John Mullane that depicts street signs pointing in different directions with Bronx communities listed, set next to a similar set of signs with the names of the different counties of Ireland.
The same logo was used on the cover of the parade’s commemorative journal.
The sale of the T-shirts, which is key to the success of the fund-raising efforts for the parade, will be in delis, bars and restaurants along E. Tremont Avenue, as well as during the parade’s breakfast the morning of the event. It can be purchased for $10.
The T-shirts have been donated by Manhattan Beer almost since the parade’s inception, and the company was once again ready and able to step-up to the plate this year with another donation.
“This is the eighth year that I have been involved with the parade while working for Manhattan Beer, and the company’s involvement goes back further,” said Lorenzo Secola, sales manager for Manhattan Beer.
“I think the parade is an excellent thing for the community, and our involvement shows that the company cares and is welling to help out any good cause.”
Being able to give back to the community that he grew up in is also a plus, Secola said.
“The Throggs Neck Benevolent Association, which runs the parade, has always been good to us, and as a company we are always happy to help them in any way we can,” Secola said.
Fund-raising for the parade is always of vital importance, said Devine, who was chairman of the parade committee.
