Bay Ridge Saint Pat’s Parade gears up for kick-off

It’s easy being green in Bay Ridge.

The Bay Ridge Saint Patrick’s Day Parade Committee celebrated this year’s parade grand marshal and deputy marshals at the organization’s annual dinner dance on Saturday, March 7 at Dyker Beach Golf Course.

“It was just a really great dinner dance,” lauded parade President Frankie Marra. “We had almost 300 people. With Grand Marshal Colonel Joseph Davidson and a great slate of deputy marshals, the parade is just getting bigger and bigger.”

Colonel Davidson will march alongside Deputy Marshals Colleen Golden, Eileen Brett, Marie Moloney, Jenny Nielsen, Michael Butler, Tom McCarthy, Mick Dorgan and Mark Langton on Sunday, March 22 down Third Avenue.

This year’s parade will be held in memory of Maureen Stramka, a beloved Bay Ridge civic leader who died of cancer last May at age 76.

This year’s Irish family of the year is the McDonagh/Manning Family.

“It’s just a great time to celebrate great people,” said Marra, adding that, this year, the parade’s education float will be joined by a float dedicated to fighting childhood cancer. “In June, we’ll be handing out scholarships to at least one child from each of the Catholic grammar schools who are looking to go to Catholic high school.”

This year marks the parade’s 22nd year and, according to Marra, the brainchild of late Ridgeite Gene Reilly still stands as the second largest Saint Patrick’s Day Parade of its kind, right behind Manhattan’s.

For more information on the Bay Ridge Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, set to kick off at 1 p.m., visit www.bayridgestpatricksday.com.

BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP/Photos by Arthur de Gaeta

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