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Date: 11/25/2015
CHICOPEE – The Chicopee St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee honored three people with the announcement on Nov. 22 of the 2016 parade marshal, as well as the winners of the Jack Woods Award and the Atkinson Award.
Retired Chicopee police officer and long-time parade committee members Timothy O’Grady was named parade marshal.
He called being named marshal as a “tremendous honor.”
He has been an active member of the committee since 1985 and has served as media and public relations\spokesperson, liaison to the St. Patrick’s Committee of Holyoke, and assisted with many functions and activities. He received the committee’s Jack Woods Award in 2002 and served as president in 2005. O’Grady is currently Second President Elect (2015 -18) for the Holyoke Committee, of which he has been a member since 2001. He continues to serve in a multitude of capacities for both committees.
O’Grady told Reminder Publications, “I’m kind of humbled and excited at the same time that they selected me.” He called the Chicopee parade committee “an extension of my family.”
Elin Gaynor received the Jack Woods Award, which was named after one of the founding members of the committee. It recognizes an individual who has actively served 10 or more years, and Gaynor has been an active member of the committee since 2002.
A resident of Chicopee, she was elected as its first woman President in 2008 and has served as secretary, Ball chairperson, Annual Mass chairperson and Scholarship chairperson.
“I’m very grateful to get this recognition from my fellow committee members,” she said.
She added the committee has been “a big part of my life for the past 13 years.” Gaynor noted her former husband and two of her children are also members.
Gaynor admitted the announcement of her award surprised her “a little bit.”
Bagpiper Thomas Knightly was named the recipient of the Atkinson Award, which was created to honor the late George and Buddy Atkinson, founding members of the committee, and is given each year to a person who is not a committee member, but has supported its functions and events.
“What an honor! I was quite surprised,” Knightly said.
Also a resident of Chicopee, Knightly has been playing the bagpipes since 1982 and has been Pipe Major of the Holyoke Caledonian Pipe Band for the past 27 years. He has been involved with the Chicopee Parade Committee since 2009 when he began piping for the Committee’s annual St. Patrick’s Mass, first at St Patrick’s Church, and now held at the Elms College Chapel, the evening before the Parade. He has also played at Holyoke Medical Center’s reception for the Holyoke and Chicopee Colleens.
Knightly noted with a smile that this would be the first time in many years he will be marching with the Chicopee contingent. His usual routine is to perform with the Holyoke Caledonian Pipe Band, which is at the front of the parade, change his clothes and then march again with the Shriners, of which he is a member.
The Chicopee St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee is recruiting new members and sponsors for the upcoming season. Information about the Chicopee St. Patrick’s Day Committee events and fundraisers, including March Money Calendars, can be found at the group’s website at www.chicopeespc.com. Applications for the 2016 Colleen Contest will be posted on the site as soon as they are available.