Newarkers to Lead City's St. Patrick's Day Parade

A duo with Newark ties will lead the oldest St. Patrick's Day parade in New Jersey Friday afternoon.

Kevin Cummings, president and chief executive officer of Investors Bank, and Sr. Deborah L. Humphreys, councilor of the Leadership Team of the Sisters of Charity, have been chosen as the grand marshal and deputy marshal for the 77th annual parade in Newark.

The parade, which will kick off its grandstand ceremonies at noon on Mulberry Street at the Prudential Center, is dedicated to Mary Rita McGovern, who died in late December. McGovern, who's family business McGovern's Tavern is a famed Irish pub in Newark, was a member of the Darcy 5 Irish Step Dancers and served as the deputy grand marshal of the West Orange St. Patrick's Day parade in 1979.

The parade will kick off at 1 p.m. from Mulberry Street, wind past the Gateway Complex to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, pass MIlitary Park on Center Street to Central Avenue leading up to St. Patrick's Pro-Cathedral and ending in front of the Newark Museum.

– Staff reports