Grand Marshal Announced For Stamford St. Patrick's Day Parade

STAMFORD, CT — On Wednesday, the Irish-American Cultural Society of Stamford announced Gerry Sweeney will serve as grand marshal of the 25th annual Stamford St. Patrick's Day parade. The event is scheduled to kick off in downtown Stamford on Saturday, March 7, at 2 p.m.

Sweeney is president of Rain Carbon, Inc., a company that produces carbon-based and advanced material products that are essential raw materials for staples of everyday life, according to a statement from the IACSOS. Headquartered in Stamford, the company is a wholly owned subsidiary of India-based RAIN Industries Limited.

He also serves on the boards of several local charities and nonprofit organizations, and has been extremely involved in the parade for the past 25 years. Sweeney and his wife, Mary Jo, live in Stamford and have three sons: Conor, Liam and Eamon.

This year's parade will consist of approximately 2,000 marchers representing nearly 80 separate organizations, including bag pipers, fire and police companies, Irish step dancers and youth, school and sports groups.

In honor of the parade's 25th anniversary, both 2020 parade and the grand marshal dinner will honor Stamford natives Brian Bill (posthumously) and Peter Kinahan.

The dinner will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 6, at the Knights of Columbus in Stamford. For more information about both events, visit the parade website.

The following information was provided by the IACSOS regarding honorees Bill and Kinahan:

A Stamford native, Brian Bill was the son of Dr. Michael Parry and Patricia Parry of Stamford and Scott Bill of Sarasota, Fla. He was an Eagle Scout and a graduate of Trinity Catholic High School in Stamford and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering at Norwich University in Norwich, V.T.

Brian enlisted in the U.S. Navy in June of 2001 in pursuit of his life-long dream of becoming a U.S. Navy SEAL and earned his Trident in 2003. He was killed in action serving his country on August 6, 2011, in Wardak Province, eastern Afghanistan at the age of 31. During his career Brian was decorated with numerous awards including four Bronze Stars with Valor, one for extreme heroism.

Peter Kinahan is a native of Stamford and a 26-year veteran of the Stamford Public School system. He's a mathematics teacher and he has been serving as a math specialist at Julia A. Stark Elementary School since 1994. Peter is happily married, with three lovely daughters. He has spent the last few years coaching soccer and girls lacrosse. He is a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, as well as a member of the Knights of Columbus. He follows the Fairfield Gaelic Football Minors as he's had a few students on the team.