Woodbridge St. Patrick's Day Parade Is March 13 This Year
WOODBRIDGE, NJ — The Woodbridge American Irish Association announced this week that the town's St. Patrick's Day parade will be March 13 this year.
The parade will start at 1:30 p.m. at Woodbridge High School and ends at Town Hall.
Held annually for decades, the Woodbridge St. Patricks' Day parade is the largest in New Jersey and attracts thousands of people to Main Street and downtown Woodbridge every spring.
However, last year the parade was canceled due to coronavirus.
The parade did take place in mid-March of 2020, right when all of New Jersey was going into lockdown.
"It's back this year," said Ken Gardner, one of the parade organizers. "It's a very popular event that brings out tens of thousands of people every year."
He stressed that the St. Patrick's Day parade is entirely run by volunteers and asked local businesses to support the parade by buying ads.
For 2022, the parade's Grand Marshal will be Charles Kenny, Irish Lady of the Year is Karen Devlin, Irish Man of the Year is Jim Leathem, Miss American Irish is Sarah Olexa and Lady in Waiting is Victoria Gomez, all Woodbridge residents.
When the decision was made to cancel the parade last year, parade chair Ben Campbell led the first-ever “Parade of Food” campaign, where the Woodbridge American Irish Association donated to local pantries.
"Our club’s parade committee includes some of the most dedicated and resourceful people and I am so happy to work with this team," said Campbell.
The Woodbridge American Irish Association is a civic organization that meets monthly, feeds the homeless, sponsors the Justin McCarthy Scholarship, maintains Charlie Shaughnessy Park and visits veterans in the Menlo Park Veterans Home.
The parade is funded with ads from local businesses and donations. To support the parade by donating or to participate please go to Amerirish.com or "like" the American Irish Association of Woodbridge on Facebook.
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This article originally appeared on the Woodbridge Patch
