By Angela Marshall
In its seventh year, the parade continues to attract participants from across the county and beyond. About 100 groups will make the final cut and parade before the thousands expected to line the streets. As always, the parade will include a number of pipe bands, Irish dancers, Hibernians and Irish wolfhounds.
Many Rockville Centre clubs and businesses will be on the march as well, including Girl and Boy Scouts from area schools, the Little League and the Lion's Club.
Starting on North Long Beach Road at Sunrise Highway, the parade will head west along Maple Avenue, pass Village Hall and St. Agnes Cathedral and end in Parking Field 2 between Village and Centre avenues.
Joe Kelly, co-chairman of the organizing committee, hopes cabin fever created by the long, harsh winter will bring out an even bigger crowd this year to celebrate Irish culture and history.
"It's going to be a grand parade," said Jane Dorney Husser, who took up the role of parade manager this year. She is particularly excited about two new participants, the Hempstead High School marching band and Macken Mortuary's Model A Ford.
Joseph F. Roughan is this year's grand marshal. Having grown up in Limerick County, Ireland, Roughan was always looking for ways to celebrate St. Patrick in his adopted hometown of Rockville Centre, where he settled in 1965. He dreamed of a day when the village would have its own parade for Ireland's patron saint. It was Roughan, along with a small group of visionaries, who organized the first parade in 1997.
Roughan believes the best part about the parade is that it raises money for charity. Through fundraising efforts, the event has raised more than $180,000 in the past six years. Three different charities are selected as recipients each year -- one local, one national and one Irish. This year's recipients will be the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association; the Literacy Volunteers of American, Nassau County, and the RVC St. Patrick's Parade Scholarship Fund. The scholarship will be awarded to four students who live in Rockville Centre. Each applicant must submit an essay describing some aspect of Irish history or culture. Other eligibility criteria will be announced at the parade.
"It's become a great tradition," Kelly said. He believes between 10,000 and 20,000 people will attend the parade and stay to patronize village businesses. "It's a great day for Rockville Centre all around."
The parade steps off at noon. Though there's no parking in front of fire hydrants, residents are otherwise free to park anywhere in the village during the parade as long as they don't interfere with public safety or impede traffic. Police will enforce laws prohibiting street vending.
