Newark St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee celebrates marshals’ investiture

NEWARK, NJ — The Newark St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee, which organizes the oldest Irish American parade in New Jersey, will celebrate the 2022 parade on Friday, March 11, stepping off at 1 p.m. in the city’s downtown. The parade was founded in 1936 and has been held every year except: from 1943 through 1946 due to World War II, one year in the late 1960s due to a massive snowstorm and the previous two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a lead-up to the annual parade, the parade committee celebrated the investiture of its grand marshal and deputy marshals at a ceremony in their honor on Friday, Feb. 11, at Highlawn Pavilion in West Orange.

This year’s parade general chairperson is Susan Gartland, former councilwoman and mayor of Caldwell, and chairwoman of the board of trustees of Mount St. Dominic Academy.

Leading the 2022 Newark parade will be grand marshal Jere Cole, a former Essex County Sheriff’s officer and Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War. Cole, a resident of Caldwell, is a former Newark parade general chairperson and general chairperson of the 30th annual NJ Irish Festival. He was previously elected a director of the Ancient Order of Hibernians charity board and now serves as secretary of the AOH national board.

The parade’s deputy grand marshals are Eileen McGinley Hannaford and MaryAnn Hannon Kostecka.

  St. Patrick’s Day