Kings Park plans 1st St. Patrick's Day parade

For decades, Irish-Americans in Kings Park, many of whom came to work at the former psychiatric center there, showed their pride by patronizing local businesses, and they filled the Catholic churches on Sundays. But the townspeople had to go to nearby St. James or even New York City to see a St. Patrick's Day parade.

Now, they'll have their own.

"People talked about it for years," said Smithtown Councilman Robert Creighton, an Irish-American and longtime Kings Park resident. "But it takes coordination. That's what Kevin did."

Kevin Denis - who with his wife, Linda Scavone Denis, has owned Professors Diner on Indian Head Road for 20 years - is the organizer of the first Kings Park St. Patrick's Day parade. He held meetings at his diner and raised the roughly $6,000 needed to stage the event, planned for noon on Saturday, March 5.

Why Kings Park never had a parade is a bit of a mystery. Census numbers show 35.5 percent of the town claims Irish heritage, second only to the 40 percent with Italian ancestry.

One person who remembers the transformation of Kings Park from potato fields to a population of about 16,500 is Matty O'Reilly, 87, who has lived there most of his life. He will be the parade's first grand marshal.

O'Reilly worked 37 years at the hospital, interrupted by a stint in the Army Air Forces during World War II, and saw streams of Irish men and women come across the ocean to work at the hospital, he said. When he first started in the early 1940s, he earned $54 a month, plus a place to stay.

O'Reilly is a familiar face around this close-knit town - a longtime member of American Legion Post 944, he often is seen putting up American flags along Main Street for patriotic holidays. Creighton called him a great pick for the job.

"It's the way it should be," Creighton said.

"To be the first, it's an honor," O'Reilly said.

Among the marchers will be three pipe-and-drum bands; three Kings Park High School bands; baton twirlers; at least 50 classic cars, which also are part of the diner's summer car show; bikers; the Kings Park Fire Department, and assorted local businesses.

Also on hand will be politicians such as Creighton and fellow Smithtown Councilman Kevin Malloy. Other invited guests include Smithtown Supervisor Patrick Vecchio, State Senator John Flanagan, Assemb. Michael Fitzpatrick, and County Executive Steve Levy.

The parade, Denis said, will start at Memorial Field at East Northport Road and Cedar Street, wind through the center of town, and finish at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church's parking lot on Church Street.

As people ask about volunteering, excitement is growing among the locals, Denis said.

"It's the big chat," he said.