West Orange Resident Named Deputy Grand Marshal Of Newark St. Patrick's Day Parade

The oldest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the State of New Jersey will return to Newark on Friday, March 11, for its 81st year.

For 2016, Flemington resident and professor John J. Farmer, Jr. will serve as Grand Marshal, and West Orange resident Barbara A. Lyons, board member of the Irish American Cultural Institute, will serve as Deputy Grand Marshal, according to parade organizers.

Reviewing stand ceremonies will begin promptly at noon, followed by the official parade kick-off at 1 p.m. The parade will commence on Mulberry Street at the Prudential Center, making its way past the Gateway Complex, to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, passing Military Park on Center Street, to Central Avenue leading up to St. Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral and ending in front of the Newark Museum and Washington Park.

“Newark was the epicenter of Irish-American life in New Jersey,” said Michael D. Byrne, general chairman of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee. “A high concentration of Irish-American immigrants first settled in Newark. As they continued to spread out throughout the state, parades were established in other areas. But Newark is the original and it is still the best.”

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Photo courtesy of BML Public Relations