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John Clayton: Meet the St. Pat's Parade grand marshal
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By JOHN CLAYTON
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
Monday, Jan. 11, 2010
The way I see it, if grocery stores can have their Valentine's Day displays in place more than a month ahead of time, I can skip ahead to my own favorite seasonal observance, which is -- big surprise here! -- St. Patrick's Day.
When it comes to St. Patrick's Day, the beauty of living in Manchester is the fact that, in addition to the traditional March 17 observance, we'll get a second chance to hoist a jar when the city's annual St. Patrick's Parade is held on March 28.
And I am happy to announce that this year's grand marshal -- allow me to pause for dramatic effect -- will be Robert E. Murphy.
The long-time insurance executive and Sweeney Post stalwart is the husband of Gloria (Holleran) Murphy and father to Kevin Murphy and Karen (Murphy) Beaulieu (which is not to overlook his grandkids, Matthew and Joseph Beaulieu), and in keeping with the tradition of previous grand marshals, Bob is somewhat shocked but justly worthy of the honor.
"It's unbelievable," he said. "Why me? I look at the names of the people who've come before me -- people like Bishop (Leo) O'Neil, Jimmy Sheehan, Bob Collins, Kay Moran, Marty Quirk, Tom King -- and I am truly and humbly honored to be in their company."
In selecting a grand marshal, organizers seek "a person of Irish heritage and Catholic faith who has contributed to the betterment of the greater Manchester area," and one of Bob's long-standing commitments fairly leaped out at the selection committee.
For more than half a century, Bob has been the individual who has constantly breathed life into a Memorial Day ceremony at St. Joseph's Cemetery that dates back to 1900.
From the outset, it was to be an annual tribute to the members of the Sheridan Guard, local Irish immigrants who rallied to the Union cause during the Civil War.
As members of the Sheridan Guard died off, the tradition was carried on by members of the Henry J. Sweeney American Legion Post. That post was named in honor of the first man from Manchester to fall in the Great War, and as Sweeney's fellow World War I comrades began to decline, men like Jim Jennings, Paul Babel and Eddie Clear turned to Bob Murphy.
"I got back from the war in 1947," he said. "I had joined Sweeney Post and started school at St. Anselm, but then I was recalled for 18 months in Korea and I didn't get back until 1950. That's when they asked me to do what I could for the Memorial Day program, so over time, I started doing the coordinating with the pastors from St. Joe's Cathedral, and we'd get the choir and the honor guard from Sweeney Post and I'd be up there on the ladder putting the bunting on the Sheridan Guard memorial, whatever needed to be done."
He's done it for 59 years straight.
On the Saturday evening preceding the parade, Bob will receive a ceremonial sash from Kay Moran, who was last year's grand marshal. That presentation will follow a Mass at St. Raphael the Archangel Parish, where the Murphy family has something of a history.
"There were nine of us Murphy kids," Bob laughed, "and we all went to St. Raphael. We were all baptized there, we all had our confirmations there, the whole works. I'm still a collector down there for the 9:30 Mass, so that night is going to be like a homecoming game for me."
A proud West Side Irishman? Maybe we should have the parade down South Main Street.
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Another reason to love the St. Patrick's Parade? It traditionally marks the first performance of the season by the Muchachos Drum and Bugle Corps.
When the kids first marched in Manchester's consciousness on May 30, 1960, they were known as "The Biggest Little Drum and Bugle Corps," but bigger things lay in store for the band that Gerry Dionne coaxed into existence at what was then known as the Manchester Boys Club.
By 1964, the band was invited to the New York World's Fair at Flushing Meadow. The kids played at Expo '67 in Montreal and by the Bicentennial Celebration of 1976, the Muchachos were performing on the White House Lawn.
After years of success, however, the Muchachos began to lose some of their mojo in the late eighties, and it took a major civic event -- Manchester's 1996 Sesquicentennial Celebration -- to bring them back to full flower.
Whereas the organization once had a cut-off age of 21, the Muchachos are now an "all-age" corps with membership open to anyone aged 14 and older. As if to reinforce that change, according to Muchachos veteran Ken Vachon, the corps has also been accepted as an Associate Member into the major leagues of marching music known as Drum Corps International.
"It's THE big name in drum and bugle corps activity worldwide," Ken said, "and it's a way for us to challenge ourselves against the big guys."
Bigger numbers would help.
"We have 22 horns," Ken said, "and we'd love to field 35. We have 17 drummers and we have room for a few more. That's why we're reaching out to former drum and bugle players, as well as high school musicians. We'd love to get the local band kids to join us in the summer when we're most active."
The Muchachos are hosting an open house on Jan. 24 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Franco American Centre at 52 Concord St. in Manchester. The goal is to showcase their new music and encourage others to join in on the fun.
For more information, call 674-7650 or go to www.muchachos.org.
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John Clayton is the author of several books on Manchester and New Hampshire, including his newest title, "Remembering Manchester." His e-mail is jclayton@unionleader.com.
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