Mayor Bets On St. Pat's Parade, Says Morristown Has Best in NJ

Fun, family-friendly entertainment that brings tens of thousands of green-garbed onlookers to Morristown is known to locals as the annual Morris County St. Patrick’s Day Parade in mid-March.

But is it the best one in the state?

Four New Jersey politicians have set out to decide that query over the next few weeks.

One of them is Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty, who is taking part in a challenge with mayors from Jersey City (Steve Fulop); Belmar (Matt Doherty); and Lake Como (Brian Wilton) to see who has the best parade.

Morristown hosts the Morris County St. Patrick’s Day Parade, with this year’s event being led by Grand Marshal Al Benedictus on March 14 at noon. Jersey City has its own parade, and Lake Como and Belmar join to host a single parade.

When the four mayors spoke at last year’s League of Municipalities meeting, each boasted about their town’s March event, and so came a challenge.

Each mayor will attend the other towns’ parades on separate weekends in March, and the four will then vote to see who has the best.

The first parade will be down the shore in the Lake Como-Belmar event, beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 1. Morristown is up next on March 14, followed by Jersey City on March 15.

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