Latest news with #St.Patrick'sParadeAssociation
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Scranton St. Patrick's Parade steps off Saturday
It will be Scranton's lucky day Saturday with thousands of revelers filling downtown as the St. Patrick's Parade Association of Lackawanna County presents the annual St. Patrick's Parade. Green traffic lines have been painted along the parade route and city officials raised the Irish flag in front of City Hall with members of the Irish American Association of Lackawanna County this week in preparation for the annual spectacle that celebrates Irish heritage. Several downtown streets will close by 9:30 a.m. on parade day, so guests should arrive early to find parking available in the several parking garages downtown or elsewhere on streets. The parade starts at 11:45 a.m. and is estimated to run slightly under 3½ hours. Here's what else to know for parade day: Parade Day Mass The annual event begins with a parade day Mass at St. Peter's Cathedral, 315 Wyoming Ave., at 10 a.m., celebrated by the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, bishop of Scranton. The Mass honors the struggles and sacrifices of St. Patrick, who is credited with introducing Christianity to the people of Ireland. Bambera follows a long line of notable celebrants of the parade day Mass, including several archbishops and cardinals. Memorial race The Mass is followed by the Brian P. Kelly Memorial St. Patrick's Parade 2-Mile Footrace at 11 a.m. The race course, run entirely on the parade route, starts and ends in front of the Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple, 420 N. Washington Ave. The race follows the parade route backward to a 1-mile turnaround point in front of St. Peter's Cathedral. Registration the day of the race is $15, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. across from Scranton City Hall at 341 N. Washington Ave. The race director is Dan King, assistant race directors are Robert Kern and John Grzenda, and race director emeritus is Mike O'Malley. Brian P. Kelly was the 2004 St. Patrick's Parade Association president, who lost a 1½-year battle with cancer Jan. 24, 2004. * Scranton officials and members of the Irish American Association of Lackawanna County raised the Irish flag above city hall Wednesday. Participating in the flag raising event were, from left, Thom Welby, district office director for state Rep. Bridget M. Kosierowski, Council President Gerald Smurl, Irish American Association President Tim Kelly, Allen Shoen, Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti and city solicitor andSt. Patrick's Parade President Thomas Gilbride. (Submitted) * Scranton DPW employee Gene Reed paints the center line on Lackawanna Avenue green for the St. Patrick's Day Parade in downtown Scranton Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) * STAFF The Penn York Highlanders Bagpipe Band from Athens march down Lackawanna Ave. in Scranton during the St. Patrick's Day Parade in 2019. Jason Farmer / Staff Photographer Show Caption 1 of 3 Scranton officials and members of the Irish American Association of Lackawanna County raised the Irish flag above city hall Wednesday. Participating in the flag raising event were, from left, Thom Welby, district office director for state Rep. Bridget M. Kosierowski, Council President Gerald Smurl, Irish American Association President Tim Kelly, Allen Shoen, Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti and city solicitor andSt. Patrick's Parade President Thomas Gilbride. (Submitted) Expand What's the parade route? After the race, the parade will step off at 11:45 a.m. at Mulberry Street and Wyoming Avenue. Marchers go past Linden Street and make a left turn onto Lackawanna Avenue. The parade then turns onto Jefferson Avenue and left onto Biden Street. After a right turn onto North Washington Avenue, the parade passes the reviewing booth near the county and federal courthouses and ends at North Washington Avenue and Vine Street. Who is participating? Dignitaries include Grand Marshal John Madden, honorary grand marshals the Cooper family, Parade Marshal Raymond Lynady, Honorary Parade Marshal John Michaely, Native Son Marty Ratchford and Parade President Thomas Gilbride. In addition, Dunmore native Vic Fangio, defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, winners of this year's NFL Super Bowl, is expected to march in this year's parade. What should I know about parking? Parking is available around the parade route in downtown Scranton, as well as at the Marketplace at Steamtown parking lot. Scranton police will enforce parking bans on the parade route from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday. What will the weather be like? Sunny skies will shine over the parade, according to the National Weather Service. However, it will be chilly and windy, with the temperature reaching 37 degrees, with occasional wind gusts up to 25 mph, according to Bryan Greenblatt, a meteorologist at the NWS Binghamton, New York, office. Organizers advise guests to keep an eye on the weather and dress accordingly. For updates and information, visit or the Scranton St. Patrick Parade Facebook page.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Yahoo
Safety foremost for upcoming annual St. Patrick's Parade in Scranton
SCRANTON — All eyes at the annual St. Patrick's Parade on March 8 won't just watch the floats, Irish groups, step dancers, bagpipers, dignitaries and more who make up the 12,000 marchers. As they do every year, police also will keep a close eye on the crowds of tens of thousands of spectators and revelers during the entire event from start to finish, officials said Thursday. Members of the St. Patrick's Parade Association of Lackawanna County met Thursday with Scranton Police Department officers to go over security for the annual parade to be held in downtown Scranton on March 8. The group spoke to media about parade security to reassure the public that a team of law enforcement and emergency management authorities — as they do every year — will make a coordinated effort to keep the event safe for all. The parade-security planning and execution takes place every year. The remarks made to media Thursday came in response to the terror attack in New Orleans early on Jan. 1, Scranton Police Chief Thomas Carroll said. In that incident at 3:15 a.m. on New Year's Day, a man drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing at least 10 and injuring dozens of others, according to a post on the FBI website about that attack. Carroll noted that for annual St. Patrick's Parades, the city blocks streets around the downtown parade route with large trucks and vehicles, and will do so again this year. Road Scholar Transport of Dunmore provides some of the vehicles that block streets. Other vehicles are city-owned trucks and heavy equipment, Carroll said. That's just one aspect of the Scranton Police Department's 'all hazards plan' implemented with the city Fire Department and Department of Public Works, and numerous law enforcement and emergency services partners, including the Pennsylvania State Police and the Lackawanna County Sheriff's Department, among others, that work as a team to keep the parade a safe, family-friendly event, Carroll said. 'This is a very heavy lift. We bring in lots of partners,' Carroll said. Without revealing specific tactics, Carroll said, 'Our plan is a layered security plan. It has features that are covert as well as overt.' Tom Gilbride, the president of the 2025 edition of the parade, said that a crowd of anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 attends the parade annually, depending on the weather. Others who attended the meeting Thursday at Scranton Police Department headquarters included: parade Director P.J. Lahey; Mike Duffy and Jim Keeler, both of Road Scholar Transport; Tim Holmes; Joe Corcoran; Ray Lynady; Scranton Police Sgt. Eric Lindsay; and Scranton Deputy Police Chief Joseph Lafferty. 'We go to great lengths to make sure that our citizens are safe,' Carroll said. 'In talking with the parade committee, we want Scranton residents, we want the greater area that is going to come to the parade, to know that we are taking public safety very seriously.'
Yahoo
23-02-2025
- Yahoo
Veteran Ireland traveler John Madden to lead Scranton's St. Patrick's Parade
John Madden, a Dunmore businessman who has traveled to Ireland 35 times, has been named the grand marshal of Scranton's St. Patrick's Parade. His 3-year-old granddaughter, Anna, has practiced waving at the crowd to be ready to walk in the March 8 parade. 'This will be exciting, because it is my first parade with my grandchildren,' Madden said. Weather permitting, even a baby granddaughter will go along. Madden is among several people named to places of honor by the St. Patrick's Parade Association of Lackawanna County. They will start the celebration with the tapping of a firkin of beer on Friday at Cooper's Seafood House to raise money for the parade. Madden is a sales manager at TravelWorld, which has offices in Scranton and Kingston. He is a former president of the Kiwanis Club of Scranton, a member of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Lackawanna County and a member of the Irish American Men's Association. He is married to the former Mary Ellen Finnerty. 'It will be among the greatest honors of my lifetime,' Madden said. It was a total surprise. 'John has served and supported numerous local non-profit groups throughout our region,' parade committee member Tim Holmes said by email. 'In his role at TravelWorld, he has also organized and hosted countless tours of Ireland and thereby introduced hundreds of Northeast Pennsylvania citizens to their ancestral homes.' His parents, the late Jack and Josephine Madden, often took him to Ireland to visit a relative outside Galway. The honorary grand marshals of the parade are the Cooper family, owners of Cooper's Seafood House, Scranton, and the site of the firkin tapping fundraiser. The parade marshal is Raymond Lynady, president of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Lackawanna County, and the honorary parade marshal is John Michaely. Marty Ratchford was named the Native Son, a token of respect that is bestowed by the association some years. The parade is dedicated to the memory of Tom Cawley and Bill Healy. Firkin Friday starts the official countdown for the association. Cooper's has a microbrewery, and a cask of its beer will be tapped at 5 p.m. at the restaurant, 701 N. Washington Ave. Admission is free, with proceeds of every pint sold from the charity cask benefiting the parade. The event goes until 7 p.m. The parade will step off from Mulberry Street and Wyoming Avenue on Saturday, March 8, at 11: 45 a.m.
