The Glen Cove St. Patrick's Day Parade
Celebrating Irish Culture on the North Shore
We marched proudly behind Grand Marshal Danny Lane in our 25th Annual Parade.
The Presentation of Sashes to our Parade Grand Marshal for the 2014 Glen Cove St. Patrick’s Day Parade, John O’Connell, and his Aides, will take place on Saturday, January 11, 2013 at 7pm at St. Rocco’s Parish Hall, located at 18 3rd Street, Glen Cove, NY, followed by a real Irish “hooley”.
We had the idea of having a “hooley” last year, and it was a wonderful time. It’s like an old fashioned Irish house party, very informal and a lot of fun. We are asking everybody to bring your own food, bring your own beverages, AND to bring your own entertainment!” (and also to bring $20 for the parade).
Music breaking out at a hooley!
The “Hooley” is a fun word for the very lively, informal type of house party Irish people enjoy. It’s a tradition that dates back in Ireland and Irish America to the days before recorded entertainment, before radio and TV. It still lingers among people who understand how much fun it can be for friends and family to entertain each other.
The party centers around the idea of the “party piece”. A lot of people come to the party prepared with at least one party piece of entertainment – a song or a tune on an instrument, a stepdance, a poem, a recitation, or a joke or story to tell – for the enjoyment of everyone at the party.
Anyone can take a turn, or join in with someone else, or just listen. It’s a great way to get to know your friends and neighbors.
A hooley might break out spontaneously anytime friends are gathered at a neighbor’s house, usually in the kitchen, where everyone can share the food and drink brought along by the guests.
The Presentation of Sashes to our Parade Grand Marshal for the 2013 Glen Cove St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Danny Lane, and his Aides, Lisa Forgione, Bob and Pam Pazenbeck, and Joe McDonald, will take place on Saturday, January 26, 2013 at from 6pm to 7pm at St. Rocco’s Parish Hall, located at 18 3rd Street, Glen Cove, NY, followed by a “hooley” from 7pm to 11pm! (see below) Click here for an event flyer
We are doing something special this year: we are planning to replicate an old-fashioned Irish house party, called a “hooley” which is very informal and a lot of fun. We are asking everybody to “bring your own food, bring your own beverages, AND to bring your own entertainment!” (and also to bring $20 for the parade).
Music breaking out at a hooley!
“Hooley” is a fun word for a very lively, informal Irish house party. It’s a tradition that dates back in Ireland and Irish America to the days before recorded entertainment, before radio and TV. It still lingers among people who understand how much fun it can be for friends and family to entertain each other.The party centers around the idea of the “party piece”. A lot of people come to the party prepared with at least one party piece of entertainment – a song or a tune on an instrument, a stepdance, a poem, a recitation, or a joke or story to tell – for the enjoyment of everyone at the party.
Anyone can take a turn, or join in with someone else, or just listen. It’s a great way to get to know your friends and neighbors.
A hooley might break out spontaneously anytime friends are gathered at a neighbor’s house, usually in the kitchen, where everyone can share the food and drink brought along by the guests.
Newsday, Sunday March 17, 2013 6:46 PM By Frank Posillico
Photo credit: Frank Posillico Glen Cove parade Grand Marshal Daniel J. Lane, right, is joined by Grand Marshal Aide Lisa Forgione, left. Lane is being honored after a lifetime of work as an Irish activist. (March 17, 2013)
A parade procession and about 80 years were all that separated the grand marshal and honorary grand marshal at the 25th annual Glen Cove St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Sunday.Grand Marshal Daniel J. Lane, 89, a lifelong advocate for Irish culture and awareness, led the parade, and Honorary Grand Marshal Nicholas Pedone, 7, who was diagnosed with cancer last fall, sat in the fire truck that brought up the rear.
Parade organizers said both marshals show what it means to have a fighting Irish spirit.
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“This community seems to amaze me every day,” said Josephine Pedone, Nicholas’ mother, adding that Nicholas is still in and out of hospitals for treatment. “We just roll with the punches and Nicholas’ smile on his face as he goes through this torturous journey in his life.”
Josephine Pedone, of Glen Cove, was surprised and happy to have her son, who is fighting neuroblastoma, a malignant tumor that forms in nerve tissue, serve as the honorary grand marshal in the parade because she hopes he brings more awareness of his disease. The Glen Cove Fire Department picked up Nicholas and his father toward the end of the parade route, and they rode in the fire truck for the remainder of the parade.
Joe McDonald, an aide to the grand marshal, said that naming Lane grand marshal was an honor long overdue. He has been a resident of the Glen Cove community for most of his life, has served on multiple town boards and committees and has always been active in his Irish culture. He was one of the first members of the Inis Fada Pipers’ Band.
He hails from Ballydesmond in County Cork, Ireland.
“We never have a shortage of someone to honor,” Joe McDonald, an aide to the grand marshal, said. “It’s a celebration of our Irish culture.”
McDonald, who has been working with the parade for the past seven years, said he feels honored to march alongside a man like Lane.
“It’s a thrill to walk down the street and hear the cheers of your friends and neighbors all celebrating your heritage,” Lane said. “It’s a celebration of Glen Cove. It’s a celebration of heritage and culture.”
Danny Lane 2013 Grand Marshal
Back in the forties and early fifties, if you lived in the Irish Metropolis, the myth prevailed that if you weren’t a Dubliner, then you just had to be a “Corkonian”! The reason for this was that one of our early Prime Ministers – Willie Cosgrove – happened to be a Corkman, and his county and political patronage was more than evident. But despite this advantage, and to our own good fortune, our Parade Grand Marshal Danny Lane chose to emigrate in 1949.
Daniel J. Lane was born in Ballydesmond, County Cork, the second youngest of a family of six, four brothers and one sister. Arriving in the United States in 1949 he settled down in Manhasset. In 1952 he married Sally Daly, a County Tyrone colleen. Together they raised four children: Dennis, Patricia, Sioban and Danny Joe. He is a very proud grandfather of six: Roxanne, Anthony, Stephen, Kevin, James and Caitlin.
County Cork is steeped in a tradition of great hurlers and footballers, but above all, it is known as the county of great national heroes and freedom fighters, who much eulogized in song and prose: men like O’Donovan Rossa, Terence McSweeney, Thomas McCurtain and many more. These patriots were all idols of Danny’s. He was imbued with their spirit of patriotism. This was coupled with the fact that his late wife Sally came from one of the partitioned counties of Ireland. As a result, whenever and wherever Ireland’s cause has needed a helping hand no one has come forward more quickly, more generously or with better heart than Danny Lane.
He served as Chairman for “Full Freedom for Ireland Committee in 1959 and 1960, he has been actively involved with Irish Northern Aid since 1969 and he has been a member of the American Irish Congress.
In 1960 Danny was elected President of Local 447 of the Utility Workers Union and remained President until June 1979 when he resigned to take up a managerial position with Citizens Water Company. He also served on the Board of Directors of Eastern Water Works for a three year term, serving New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Our Grand Marshal is an active member of the Irish American Society which is where many have come to know and love the true Danny. When the Society purchased its present Center building and needed help with renovations, Danny Lane gave unselfishly of his time and talent. He served on the Board of Directors for two terms. Anyone familiar with his service there would venture to say that if Danny were asked what his greatest pride in the Society was, he would say, “Oh, that we have the great Inis Fada Pipers’ Band” – which he joined in 1958 and performed with until 1983. His moments of triumph and joy were when he played and competed all over the United States with the band and the many trophies and championships they won over the years he was involved.
On March 17th 2013, while Danny leads the Hibernians and marchers in the Glen Cove St. Patrick’s Day Parade we know that his heart will be overflowing with pride and joy for all the Hibernians who have honored him this day, and we know that, deep in his heart, his thoughts and memories will dwell, as always, on his homeland. There will be a yearning, a hope and a dream that someday in the not too distant future, he can lead a parade through the streets of Derry, Belfast, Newry or Armagh and that the pipers will be playing “A Nation Once Again”.
Go n-éirí an bóthar leat Domnaill – May the Road Rise to Meet You, Danny!
The 25th Annual Glen Cove St. Patrick’s Day Parade will take place on Sunday, March 17, 2013.
St.. Patrick’s Day in Glen Cove this year will be even more special than usual for two great reasons. The first is that Glen Cove gets a rare chance to hold its St. Patrick’s Day Parade on St. Patrick’s Day itself, since the Manhattan parade is held on Saturday when St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Sunday. The second is that this year’s Parade will be the 25th Annual parade since its inception in 1989. During that time the Parade, always a dazzling event, has grown to be the premier St. Patrick’s Day celebration on the North Shore and the largest annual parade in Glen Cove.
This year’s Grand Marshal is renowned Irish activist and Sea Cliff resident Daniel J. Lane. He will be accompanied by Aides Robert and Pamela Panzenbeck, Lisa Forgione and Joseph McDonald.
The Parade begins to form up at 12 noon in the area of the Finley Middle School on Forest Avenue. It steps off at 1pm, following the usual route through downtown Glen Cove to St. Patrick’s Church. There is very ample parking in the municipal garages and at the end of the parade route. Click here for more information on the parade route and directions.
The backbone of the parade, as always, will be its exciting mix of marching groups, including many bands of Irish pipers. Further color will be added to the festivities by vintage cars, costumed performers, face painters, fire and police units and much more. The parade is a true community celebration of the coming of Spring with many of our areas ethnic organizations, often in costume, taking part. Come, join the fun!
For more information about the parade, please visit www.glencoveirishparade.org or call 516-782-7494.
