Parade For Morris Plains Marshal Kicks St. Patrick's Day Off Early

MORRIS PLAINS, NJ — Though the Morris County St. Patrick's Day Parade is still several weeks away, one community is preparing to celebrate their hometown Grand Marshal this weekend.

Longtime Morris Plains resident Jack Haren will lead the main parade down South Street on March 9. A smaller parade in his honor will take place on Saturday at 11 a.m., followed by a brief ceremony at the Glenbrook Road home where Haren and his wife Eileen have lived for almost 30 years.

Anyone is welcome to join the parade (including pets), and it begins lining up at Simons Memorial Park at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The parade starts at 11. The parade route will be from the park along Mountain Way, then down Glenbrook Road.

Then, there is also a "Grand Marshals on Tap" event later on Saturday at the Famished Frog's Legends Sports Bar in Morristown, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. This is a family-friendly event with live music, a face-painter, and bagpipes. The cost is $20 at the door, with appetizers and a cash bar.

Haren is a first-generation Irish American who was raised in upper Manhattan by parents from County Kerry and County Clare. He graduated from Fordham University in 1969 and subsequently served as an active-duty Signal Corps Lieutenant in the United States Army for two years.

He is a member of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and co-chair of the organization's Heritage Committee, which plans tours to historical locations such as Manhattan's Five Points as well as the Molly McGuire and Irish Famine museums.

The 2024 Morris County St. Patrick's Day Parade will take place in Morristown on Saturday, March 9, at 12 p.m. Since 1979, the Morris County St. Patrick's Day Parade has been the largest in New Jersey, with over 20 bands and over 4,000 marchers.

Click here to see more details about the main event in March.

Patch's Vianella Burns contributed to this report.