By Stephen Appezzato
As March approaches, Highlands, Little Silver and Rumson are organizing the final touches for their annual St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, offering parades, food, music and more. Each town’s event boasts a unique way to commemorate Irish heritage while fostering community and supporting charitable causes.
Rumson
The Rumson St. Patrick’s Day Parade will take place March 9 at 1 p.m., featuring bands, marchers, floats and more.
Since its inaugural event in 2013, the parade has grown into one of the com- munity’s most anticipated annual traditions, gaining traction with enthusiastic support from residents and local organizations.
As the parade steps off on Allen Street and River Road, marchers, bagpipe bands, colorful floats and community groups will make their way along the 1-mile parade route, which concludes at the intersection of Carton Street and Forrest Avenue. The parade typically lasts about 90 minutes, drawing families, friends, and visitors from across the region. “As a non-profit organization, the parade honors Irish heritage while supporting the Greater Rumson community. Over the years, it has provided financial aid to more than 22 local charities, foster- ing a legacy of generosity and care,” a news release read. This year, proceeds from the parade will support No Limits Cafe, a Middletown-based organization that empowers adults with intellectual disabilities through meaningful employment and job training.
For 2025, Christopher Rinn is the parade Grand Marshal. Rinn is the president and CEO of VNA Health Group.
“This event speaks to the strength of our community, our shared heritage, and our ability to come together to support organizations making a real difference. I look forward to marching alongside neighbors and friends on March 9th,” Rinn said.
Organizers are now hosting a series of community-driven events to build excitement, like a student essay contest, a two-week-long scavenger hunt where residents search for Lucky the Leprechaun at more than 20 participating businesses in town, and a soda bread contest March 7 at the Oceanic Library.
Making the parade a success each year is months of behind-the-scenes work from local volunteers.
“Organizing the lineup of bands, marchers, and performers requires countless hours of coordination with groups from near and far. Local volunteers, businesses, and community leaders come together to handle logistics, fundraising, and promotion, ensuring the parade remains a top-tier event for everyone to enjoy,” a spokesperson said.
“As we count down to parade day, we invite the entire community to take part, whether by marching, participating in our pre-parade special events, or simply cheering from the sidelines,” they added.
Little Silver
The weekend following Rumson’s parade, the Little Silver Volunteer Fire Company will host its annual St. Patrick’s Fundraiser March 15, from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. The event, located on the fire company’s property, has been a beloved town tradition for 20 years, drawing between 800 and 1,000 attendees each event.
The fundraiser will feature two bands, music from Christian Brothers Academy’s pipe and drum band, Irish step dancers from the Daly Irish Dance School, food, drink, a super 50/50 raffle, a separate kids’ area and more.
In the lead up to the day, borough council member, fire company member and event chairman Kevin Brennan described the months-long process of putting the celebration together.
Each fall, the event committee begins planning. “There’s a lot of pre-plan that goes into it simply because we need to book the certain things to make sure we have them,” Brennan said, like catering and music.
Following the fire company’s yearly Christmas tree sale, the committee reconvenes in January, planning the rest of the celebration. Co-chairing the fundraiser is fellow council member and longtime volunteer EMT Elizabeth Giblin.
Proceeds raised at the St. Patrick’s Fundraiser directly support the fire company’s operations.
“Most people don’t know this, we’re a volunteer fire company,” Brennan said. “When it comes to the fire apparatus and a lot of the capital expenditure, the town (of) Little Silver pays for that. However, there is a lot of expenses in just maintaining the fire company, house and property. So with these fundraisers that we do, they literally underwrite a lot of the annual and daily maintenance on the property and building that we own,” he explained.
Brennan said that over the past 20 years he has noticed the community really take to the event.
“There are a lot of people with Irish heritage in the area, and they pick up on it. And once they come one year, they start coming from then on in, you know,” he said. “We have young adults that came as little kids that now have their own children that are showing up,” he added.
Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available online at littlesilverfd.org and children 12 and under receive free admission.
“It’s time-tested,” and “it’s a great event,” Brennan said.
Highlands
The festivities do not stop there, as Highlands Business Partnership will host its 20th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade March 22 at 2 p.m. The parade is a hallmark event for the town, featuring about 100 marching units, including bagpipers, marching bands, Irish step dancers, Scout troops, elaborately decorated floats and more.
“We have a band called Baltimore All-Star Marching Unit, and they come all the way from Baltimore. There’s like 50 of them. It’s an amazing band,” said Carla Cefalo, Highlands Business Partnership executive director. “They came last parade, and of course, they’re coming back. They were such an amazing hit,” she said.
A float competition with four judging categories will add to the excitement, and this year’s Grand Marshal is Timothy Hill, Highlands’ former recreational director who later served as interim borough administrator after Super Storm Sandy before retiring. Though now residing in Florida, Hill will return to Highlands for the parade.
“Everyone, of course, is selected because of their contribution to the community. That’s how we do it,” Cefalo said. “He’s a great choice. He’s very well-known and very well-liked,” Cefalo said.
Planning for the parade is a year-round effort. “We actually give some bands their contracts for the following year as they check in for the parade,” Cefalo explained. “We usually have them all signed by January, but we do start right away.”
Alongside months of planning are an array of logistics that many spectators don’t realize go into organizing the parade, like the order of floats and marching units.
“When you’re doing a lineup, you have to remember, if a float says they’re having a band on their float, I’m not going to put them next to a marching band,” Or place a marching band next to a fire engine, so the acts don’t drown each other out.
“It’s a very big parade, and so we stage the floats in one location,” while fire trucks and ambulances, cars and marchers are staged at another location, “so they each check in at different times and places. And then the challenge is for the person on the corner who has to merge them all together,” Cefalo said.
Despite last year’s parade being rained out, Cefalo said prior celebrations have attracted around 12,000 attendees and brought significant economic benefits to the town. “People are in town all day and night, and it really spurs the local economy. And you know, everybody is Irish for the day, and . . . the residents are so proud.”
Leading up to the parade, Highlands Business Partnership hosts fundraisers, including an annual chili cook-off which will occur this Sunday Feb. 23, and the annual Guinness Run March 8. Proceeds from these will help fund the parade.
“We really have raised the bar and just make it bigger and better and spectacular,” Cefalo said, also expressing gratitude for the town’s officials, police, and sponsors. “If it wasn’t for them, you know, none of this can happen.”
Alongside these celebrations, more St. Patrick’s Day events will occur throughout March including the Belmar Lake Como St. Patrick’s Day Parade March 2, Asbury Park’s parade March 9, Freehold’s parade March 16 and Keansburg’s parade March 29.
The article originally appeared in the February 20 – 26, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
