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Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade

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A Singular Honor for Sister James Anne Feerick

Sister James Anne, receiving flowers at the St. Patrick's Day Parade in 2008.

Sister James Anne, receiving flowers at the St. Patrick's Day Parade in 2008.

Sister James Anne Feerick, I.H.M., longtime dedicated Catholic school educator, is the 2011 Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day grand marshal.

Sister James Anne has been a member of the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary since 1960. Currently, she is director and teacher at the IHM Educational Center in Bryn Mawr. Earlier in the week, she was named the recipient of the Mayo Association of Philadelphia’s 2010 President’s Award—so you could say that this was a spectacular week for this stellar graduate of West Catholic Girls High. (Sister is also the longtime chaplain of the Mayo Association.)

Associated with the parade for many years—as a judge since 1985 and, in 2008, a member of the Ring of Honor—she dates her involvement in the parade back to 1956, when she first started marching in it.

It would be hard to find anyone more steeped in Irish tradition than Sister James Anne. Going back to her youth, she was a violin player who performed on Will Regan’s Irish Hour and was secretary of the old Irish Musicians Union in Southwest Philadelphia for two years.

Of course, people who know her also recognize her as a superb Irish dancer. She started as a student at Sean Lavery School of Irish Dance in West Philadelphia (from 1949-1960), and she’s been on her toes ever since. As an educator, she often taught students Irish dance as a way of developing coordination.

Fittingly, the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association chose as its 2011 theme: St. Patrick, Bless Our Religious Sisters Who Serve, Inspire and Educate.

Sister James Anne is the first woman selected as grand marshal since Rosemarie Timoney, in 1997.

In what apparently marks a banner year for Irish women, Kathy McGee Burns, previously 1st vice president of the parade association, was elected president. She is only the second woman to serve in that capacity. (The first was Marie C. Burns, 1993-1994.)

McGee Burns already is a very busy and accomplished woman. She is the first president of the Delaware Valley Irish Hall of Fame. She also was the first woman president of the Donegal Association. In 2010, she was selected to receive one of the first Inspirational Irish Women awards. Also in 2010, she was named winner of the third annual Joseph E. Montgomery Award from Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 62.

The board also elected two new members, two new board members, Mike Driscoll, owner of Finnigan’s Wake and a longtime notable parade booster, and police Sgt. John Stevenson.

November 12, 2010 by
News

A Much-Needed Boost for the Parade

A timely donation worth cheering for.

A timely donation worth cheering for.

The Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade got a nice little shot in the arm this week.
 
U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, cable tycoon “Gerry” Lenfest and Joey Vento (he of Geno’s steaks) have come up with a large wad of cash that will help the city’s ethnic parades and festivals—including the St. Pat’s parade—offset some of its setup and cleanup costs.

The Greater Philadelphia Traditions Fund is what it’s called. According to the Inquirer, the fund has coughed up $200,000 for 2011 costs, with the $100,000 set pledged (so far) for 2012. What’s more, the story noted, the funds “will include reimbursement for expenses in 2009 and 2010.”

All of which came as welcome news to Michael F. Callahan, president of the board of the St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association.

“The way I understand it, this is for the City of Philadelphia’s costs, which include police and sanitation, the healthiest amount of costs,” said Callahan. “It also includes the EMT (emergency medical crews) costs as well.” Callahan estimates that the Traditions Fund donation could pare $30,000 to $35,000 off the costs of the parade.

That doesn’t mean the parade has anything like a free ride. Quite the contrary. “It costs about $110,000 to put the (St. Patrick’s Day) parade out,” Callahan said. “The costs just add up. So if they’re paying for $30,000 to $35,000, we still have to come up with the balance. We’re very grateful for their efforts. They’re allies of the ethnic traditions in the city. But we still need to get out there and beat the streets in tough economic times.”

Callahan credited Brady in particular for shepherding the deal through: “He’s a guy who gets things done, no doubt about it. He stepped up and said we needed a powerful voice, someone who has the ear of the money people and the people in City Hall. He was a godsend.”

October 15, 2010 by
News

Tee Up for the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade Golf Tourney

Here’s your chance to aid the wearin’ of the green with a day on the greens.

The Jack McNamee Masters of the Green Golf Tournament tees off Monday (October 4) at Paxon Hollow Golf Club in Media. Play in it, and you’ll help pay for the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

The contribution is $110, but that includes golf cart, prizes (Eagles tickets, sports memorabilia and such) and gifts (there’s a spiffy new jacket) and dinner.

Sign-in is at 12 noon, with a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start, scramble format.

All you have to do is take half a day off–surely they can spare you for an afternoon–and spend your day on the links. How hard is that?

The tournament has been going great guns for about 15 years. Last year, it was named after the late 2008 parade grand marshal and parade committee board member Jack McNamee, but this year it’s also dedicated to the memory of Jim Kilgallen, 2004 grand marshal of the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade and owner of Kilgallen’s Tavern, who died in March.

“Jimmy Kilgallen really helped out on this golf outing, right from the beginning,” says Mike Callahan, president of the St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association board of directors, who’s coordinating the tournament.

The day of golf is all fun, but it has a serious purpose. “We need to keep raising money,” says Callahan. “Even though we’re working with the city (on lowering costs), we still need to pay for insurances, port-a-jons, electricians, set-up people…”

The tournament typically attracts about a hundred golfers, so–do the math–a successful tourney can a big shot in the arm.

You can do your bit. Head over to the Paxon Hollow Golf Club, 850 Paxon Hollow Road, Monday at lunch time, and support the parade.

For more information, contact Mike Callahan at (215) 983-7224.

September 28, 2010 by
News, People

Honoring Franny Rafferty

Mike Callaghan with Franny Rafferty.

Mike Callaghan with Franny Rafferty.

Anyone who knows Philly politics knows former Democratic councilman-at-large Francis W. Rafferty. Suffice to say, he was no shrinking violet in the exercise of his official duties.

People who serve on the St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association know Franny Rafferty in an entirely different light. Rafferty has served on the association board, which oversees the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, for over 30 years. For two years, he was president. (Those are recalled by current president Mike Callaghan, somewhat ruefully, as the two years in which the parade enjoyed some of its best weather—sunny, with highs in the low 70s.)

So let others dwell on the colorful history. His colleagues on the board know him as one of their hardest-working, most forward-thinking members. Recently, they honored Rafferty for his long years of service.

Callaghan says the accolades are well-deserved. “Franny’s a sweetheart,” says Callaghan. “He’s very focused and very zealous about what he believes in. He was a tremendous board member.”

Rafferty himself is grateful for the kind words, but he’s characteristically reluctant to toot his own horn. Instead, he redirects the very public attention to those who have served before him. “the guys that created the Observance Association, they deserve all the credit,” he says. “They’re the ones who brought us recognition. They’re good guys, good people. I was just proud to serve with them.”

He singles out the late board member Marie Burns for particular praise. “Marie Burns was my mentor,” he says. “She just took me under her wing. When i came on the board, I would just lay back. I was a councilman and younger then. I just wanted to be part of what they were doing. Marie took me under her wing. She said, ‘Someday, we’re gonna make you president.’ She was just a nice person to be with. I really miss her.”

Rafferty’s appreciation of his Irish heritage didn’t come naturally. In some families, Irish cultural awareness is front and center. In others, it’s rarely discussed. Rafferty’s family fell into the latter category.

Still, his family history is every bit as colorful as the man himself. His grandfather Pete Rafferty came from County Tyrone and established a horse manure business and, with hard work, came to own many properties along Washington Avenue. “He was supposed to have had the first bottom-drop wagons,” Rafferty says. “He worked a lot of construction jobs with it. He was just a hard-working little guy. He would haul stuff, and people would ride his horses on Sunday.”

Rafferty’s own Irish awakening came with the onset of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. As a member of Philadelphia’s City Council, he felt it was time for him to become involved, and he pursued his interest in the cause of Irish unity with characteristic vigor–even visiting Irish political prisoners in the infamous Maze Prison in County Down. He also stayed in private homes with Northern Irish families. “I really started to learn what these people were going through,” he says.

To Rafferty, service to the St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association is all a logical outgrowth of that deep and abiding passion for history and tradition. He recalls his time in the center of things with great fondness. “”It was just a beautiful time,” he says. “Now it’s time for the younger guys to take over.”

September 14, 2010 by
News, People

Philly’s “Good Guy” Set to Become Harrisburg’s 10th Bishop

Bishop Joseph McFadden

Bishop Joseph McFadden, chaplain emeritus of the Philadelphia St. Patrick's Day Parade, joined St. Thomas More alums in singing the school song.

An “average Joe” is about to helm the Harrisburg Diocese.

Of course, Philadelphia Auxiliary Bishop Joseph P. McFadden is really far from ordinary. In naming him this week to become the 10th bishop of Harrisburg, Pope Benedict XVI surely must have recognized Bishop McFadden’s solid record of accomplishment.

McFadden has been a priest for 29 years, but he was someone special right from the word go. After a brief stint as assistant pastor of Irish St. Laurence Parish in Highland Park, Delaware County, he become administrative secretary to then Cardinal Krol in 1982. Less than 10 years later, he was appointed honorary prelate to Pope John Paul II—as a monsignor.

He later served as president of Cardinal O’Hara High School, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Downington and, in June 2004, auxiliary bishop under Cardinal Justin Rigali.

Not bad for a guy who grew up in St. Rose of Lima parish in West Philly, graduate of St. Thomas More, and high school basketball coach.

McFadden, contacted Friday just before he left to catch a flight to Rome, was characteristically humble when asked about his sure and steady rise. “For most priests the goal is to answer the call of God and to be of service to Jesus and the preaching of his gospel as a parish priest,” he said. “I don’t think a young man focuses on becoming a bishop. I didn’t. As bishop, a priest is still called to preach the gospel, but it means that you have responsibility of a larger flock, a larger group of people. when God gives you responsibility, you expect to have to answer to that responsiblilty. It’s one thing for an individual to open himself to the grace of God. It’s quite another thing to be responsible for shepherding other people in response to the same call.”

Throughout his rise to the top, Joseph McFadden apparently has not forgotten his humble roots, said Michael Bradley, director of the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade, who has known him for a long time—including McFadden’s more recent service as parade chaplain and chaplain emeritus.

“He (McFadden) was president of Cardinal O’Hara when I was athletic director at Broomall,” said Bradley. “We knew of each each other for a long time. He went to Tommy Moore, and my dad went there. But we became close in the ’90s.”

Over the years, Bradley could see how much McFadden loved the Philly parade. The future bishop would march every year with the group from O’Hara. In 2007, when chaplain Father Kevin Trautner died, Bradley named him chaplain. That first year, McFadden spent some time providing commentary in the CBS3 booth. “They raved about him,” said Bradley.

What has appealed most to Bradley about this well-connected prelate, who in his time has tackled some nettlesome issues—including the closing of Cardinal Dougherty and Northeast Catholic high schools—is how down-to-earth he is. “I’ve always felt that he is a regular guy who became a bishop,” said Bradley. “He has an ability, when you’re talking to him, to make you feel like he’s your best friend.”

Bradley, for one, is not happy to see this best friend go. While acknowledging that McFadden’s promotion to preside over the Harrisburg Diocese is a great honor, Bradley wishes the Vatican had looked inside the Harrisburg Diocese to “hire from within. He asked, “Why can’t they get their own good guy?”

Philly’s “good guy” understands that his local friends might miss him. At the same time, he hopes he’ll be able to maintain at least some of his ties to the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade while forging new ties with the Irish-Americans of Harrisburg. “I would like to hope I can,” he said. “I love the Philly parade.

My parents, as you know, were born in Ireland. I’m proud of my Irish heritage. the parade has been such a great experience the last several years. It really has become a wonderful event in Philadelphia.”

June 24, 2010 by
News

One Week To Go and the Fun Has Already Started

The littlest dancers get some one-on-one coaching.

The littlest dancers get some one-on-one coaching. (Click on photo to view slideshow.)

It’s now less than a week before the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade and the last fundraiser was truly a “fun” raiser, as Parade Director Michael Bradley called it.

Hundreds paid $25 to get into the event, which featured the popular local group, Blackthorn, a silent auction and a live auction with CBS3 personality Bob Kelly as auctioneer. Some items, like a baseball bat signed by Carlos Ruiz and an on-the-field photo session with the Philly Phanatic , went for hundreds of dollars. 

The parade is set to march down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Sunday, March 14,  starting at noon. It will be televised live on the CWPhilly and rebroadcast on CWPhilly and CBS3 on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17.

For the second year in a row, the parade organizers turned to fundraising to keep the parade afloat after the city, facing a budget crisis, began billing for services like police, port-a-potties, and clean-up, that the city had covered in previous years. 

While the financial situation continues to be serious,  the fundraisers have been anything but. 

March 8, 2010 by
News, People

Pre-Parade Fun at CBS 3 Studios

Knute Bonner gets a double hug from the McCafferty girls, Bridie and Peggy, at the CBS 3 pre-parade party.

Knute Bonner gets a double hug from the McCafferty girls, Bridie and Peggy, at the CBS 3 pre-parade party.

“This is the best party of the season,” said one of the attendees at this week’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade party at the studios of CBS3.

And it’s not just the tables groaning with seafood that make it look like an “Under the Sea” theme event.

There’s music, camaraderie, a chance to brush shoulders with the folks that bring us news, sports, weather, and traffic. The Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade is televised live on CBS and repeated again on St. Patrick’s Day on CBS3 and sister station, CW Philly.

You can see the fun and who was having it in our videos:

March 3, 2010 by
News

Fund-Raising in Full Swing

Sean Harbison Jr. and his aunt Gina Hiller.

Sean Harbison Jr. and his aunt Gina Hiller.

They were very nearly spilling out onto St. Vincent Street on Sunday afternoon as a fund-raising party for the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade attracted a huge crowd to the Mayfair Community Center in the Northeast.

This year’s grand marshal Seamus Boyle, national president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, held court as his hard-working brothers and sisters at the Philadelphia County Board and AOH and LAOH Division 39 kept the whole thing rolling.

Guests were well-fed and watered (or beered, depending on how you look at these things), and the stage was occupied by a hard-charging band. The party also featured the toe-tapping girls of the Celtic Flame Irish dance school.

A few nights later, at the great little pub at 17th and the Parkway, Con Murphy’s, yet another fund-raising party took place. Guests noshed on hors d’oeuvres, chatted with friends and clapped to the music of Slainte.

Yes, folks, the St. Patrick’s craziness is starting in style.

February 25, 2010 by