Sussex County St. Patrick's Day
events will include dinner and parade Newton The following events are planned to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Sussex County: St. Patrick’s Day Grand Marshal’s Dinner On Saturday, Feb. 20 the 7th annual Sussex County Grand Marshal’s Dinner will be held at the Lake Mohawk Country Club in Sparta. This year’s honoree is Pat Fitzgibbons. A lifelong Sussex county resident, he and his wife, Mary, have been very involved in promoting Irish American culture throughout the county for many years. Fitzgibbons was born in Franklin on Oct. 5, 1941. His parents, Joseph P. Fitzgibbons Sr. and Loretta M. (Farrell) Fitzgibbons raised their four children Joseph Jr., Patrick, Annette and Bill in the town of Ogdensburg, now home to the sixth generation of their family which originally emigrated from County Cavan and Roscommon,Ireland in the mid 1800’s. Fitzgibbonst and Mary K. (McLaughlin), (a Donegal-descended girl, were married in 1965 and have four children - Patrick, Moira, married to Michael Petronio, Megan, married to Michael MacMullin and Kerry, married to Paul Marino. They have nine grandchildren - Lia,Tara and Eliza Petronio, Lily, Gregory and Nora Marino, and Jadon, Alexandra and Tessa MacMullin. Educated in the Ogdensburg Elementary School and Franklin High School, Fitzgibbons received his B.S. Degree in Accounting from King’s College and his M.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He worked for the public accounting firm of Lybrand, Ross Brothers and Montgomery following his graduation from college; served the U.S. Army, and spent the balance of his career of 36 years at Ames Rubber Corporation in Hamburg, in various positions - finishing as Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration. Fitzgibbons has had a wide interest in serving his church and his community. He is a trustee of St. Thomas of Aquin Roman Catholic Church. He has served the Ogdensburg Board of Education as secretary and boardmember, has been a member of the Ogdensburg Borough Council, and served as mayor of the Borough of Ogdensburg. He is Democratic Municipal Chairman and is a member and past treasurer of the Sussex County Democratic Committee. He has served on the Franklin Hospital Board of Directors and the Alexander Linn/St. Clare’s Hospital Board. He served as chairman of The Sussex County Cancer Society Fund Drive, the Paterson Diocese Education Committee, the Building Committee for Pope John XXIII High School,and the Wallkill Valley Regional High School Feasibility Study Committee. He is a member of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee. Tickets for this year’s dinner are $75 per person and must be pre-purchased. St. Patrick’s Day Parade The 7th annual Sussex County St. Patrick’s Day Parade is scheduled to be held on Saturday, March 20 on Spring Street in the County Seat of Newton, with a start time of 11:30 a.m. The parade route will run through downtown Newton, along Spring Street, ending at Memory Park. The parade will last about one hour. There is no fee to march but a parade marching application must be completed in order to march in the parade. Applications are available on at www.sussexcountynjirish.com. St. Patrick’s Day Mass and Irish Breakfast Irish Mass will be held on Saturday, March 13, at 8:30 a.m. at St. Jude’s in Hamburg, immediately followed by a Traditional Irish Breakfast at the Irish Cottage, on Route 23 in Franklin. Tickets for the breakfast are $12 per person and must be pre purchased. For more information on purchasing tickets to this year’s dinner and breakfast, or for parade marching applications, visit www.sussexcountynjirish.com or call Mark Zschack, committee VP at 973-827-5228.