Marking the halfway point to the St. Pat’s Parade

Although the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade is five months away, its committee has wasted no time in celebrating early and uniting the community in a fit of revelry. A fundraiser for the annual parade was held on Sunday, October 21 – the halfway point between the last march and the next one — at the Wicked Monk bar and restaurant newly located on the parade’s new home: Third Avenue.

Citing declining attendance and a lack of financial support from the Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District, the committee decided to move the annual parade to Third Avenue in an effort to reel in a new audience and fortify the parade’s support from local businesses.

In honor of the parade’s new location and the committee’s hope for a renewal of support, organizers, “decided to have a fundraiser,” said Frankie Marra, president of the parade. “We moved to bring attention to the parade. Bay Ridge is a heavily Irish community. We did it to celebrate the Irish and Catholic heritage and bring the community together.”

The fundraiser started at 3 p.m. and featured performances from Brian Monaghan at 3:30 p.m., The Narrowbacks at 5 p.m., and The Canny Brothers at 7 p.m. There was a $20 suggested donation at the door; all proceeds went to the funding for the parade.

The “halfway fundraiser,” as the parade’s vice president, Linda Gallagher, referred to it, yielded tremendous success. “A lot of people from the neighborhood [were] here,” exclaimed Gallagher. “And we really [had] some phenomenal bands playing for us.”

The fundraiser also served as an opportunity to introduce this year’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade honorees: Grand Marshal Sister Virginia Lake, director of alumni at Bishop Kearney High School; and Deputy Marshals Eileen Long-Chelales, Karen Hennigan, Christine Doherty, Marianna Murray O’Connor, Tom MacLellan, Chris Coughlin, James Quigley and Enda Lally.

For more information on the 2013 parade and how to contribute, log on to http://brooklynstpatricksparade.com/.