Irish eyes will be smiling and emerald green will be all aglow as the 34th annual Peekskill St. Patrick’s Parade proudly marches through downtown. The parade, sponsored by volunteers on the Peekskill St. Patrick’s Parade Committee, is the first citywide outdoor event after a frigid winter. Like the Irish, the parade marches on regardless of the weather, even if it “drizzles,” as it did last year. But the parade went on as these pictures from the Peekskill Herald highlighted. This year the forecast is for highs in the 60s and not a drop of rain in sight.
Flag Raising and Parade Route
The annual Peekskill St. Patrick’s events kick off in Peekskill on Saturday, March 15 at 10:30 a.m. at City Hall with the raising of the flag of Ireland by the St. Patrick’s Committee, elected officials, delegates and members of the community.
The parade officially kicks off on Saturday, March 15 at 3 p m. with Bagpiper Joe Brady leading the parade as he has every year since its inception in 1990. The parade route begins near Assumption Church. It makes its way down South Division Street, passing BeanRunner Café, Esther Place, Bantam Tools Robotics Showroom and Art Gallery, Peekskill Coffee House, Gleason’s, Slainte, the Fern Tree, and the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce. It continues down North Division street through Restaurant Row past the Gazebo, Kiosko’s Pizzeria, Ruben’s Mexican Cafe, G&H Jamaican Restaurant, Gauchos Brazilian Steakhouse, Taco District, Ramenesque & Thaimless Thai, Whiskey River, Division Street Guitars, Speakeasy Tattoos, Quirkshop and the Digital Arts Center of Westchester Community College. The parade then makes a right turn at Busy Corner and travels along Main Street past Ecuatoriano Deli, PK Juice Blends, JP’s Barber and the Peekskill Barber Shops, Sav-Mor Auto Parts, Sun River Health Center, Pugsley Park, Terra Dulce Bakery, Valley Brook Market and United Methodist Church of Peekskill. It makes a right turn on James street, passes by Dunkin Donuts, and proceeds down James, past James Street garage, to the reviewing stand on the corner of James and Park Streets near C-Town. The parade ends after it makes a quick turn onto Brown Street behind the Park Mall and near the Historic Elks Lodge.
2025 Grand Marshal and Aides
The 2025 St. Patrick’s Parade Grand Marshal is the Honorable George Oros, who served one term on the Town of Cortlandt Town Board, and for 12 years represented Peekskill, Cortlandt and Yorktown on the Westchester County Board of Legislators. He later served as Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino’s Chief of Staff. Currently, George is a part-time consultant for economic development for his hometown of Cortlandt, where he promotes the town as “Where Life Works” and continues in private law practice. 
Robert Boddie, Jr. (who likes to be called “Boddie”) is one of the 2025 Aides to the Grand Marshal. Boddie was born and raised in Peekskill into the “infamous” Boddie clan – at one time the largest Irish family in Peekskill. Like many in his large family, community involvement is a priority for Boddie. Born in 1983 to Bob Sr. and Doris Boddie, he has followed in his father’s footsteps in the fire service. He is a firefighter at the United States Military Academy at West Point and is also a New York State Fire Instructor. Previously, he served in a variety of other firefighting positions as Fire Officer at the Peekskill Fire Department, Fire Marshal for the MTA Metro-North Railroad, and Firefighter for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Robert Boddie attended Peekskill City Schools and is an alumnus of Iona College, where he became interested in bagpiping, eventually joining the Westchester Firefighters Emerald Society Pipes & Drums, serving as their Pipe Major until 2022. Robert Boddie, Sr. served as an Aide to the Grand Marshal in 2023. The joy of being an Aide in this year’s St. Patrick’s Parade is bittersweet for Boddie and his family, as Doris Boddie passed away in February, but rest assured Doris will be there in spirit, cheering on her son with an extremely large smile and an immensely proud heart.
2025 Grand Marshal Aide Clare Keenan Carrey is Director of Food Services for the Hendrick Hudson School District. She is active in fundraising, volunteering to make a “damn good meatball” and who “flips a mean pancake.” During the pandemic, Clare gave us “Lunch Lady Live,” appearing live on Facebook every day in a different hat, different accent, and occasionally a fashionable mustache. She brought daily humor during a dark time and food to those in need. For many, it kept the school community connected. Along with Kathi Beltran and Laura Cuchino, Clare served over 285,000 meals to the community at large. Clare and her sister Beth are members of the Buchanan Ladies Auxiliary. Clare and other women ran the Buchanan St. Patrick’s Day Parade for many years, where she emceed the installation dinner and the parade.
Lou Mettey, an Aide to the Grand Marshal, has participated in many Peekskill St. Patrick’s Parade masses at Assumption Church as a member of the chorus, stepping up his involvement when his late son Scott Mettey (who passed in 2023) became organist and music director. Just like Lou, Scott was an integral part of the Irish Community in Peekskill and was an aide in 2007 when Bill Powers was Grand Marshal. Lou retired from ConEd when the plant was sold to Entergy but continued to work at Indian Point until 2004. After retirement, he was a surveyor. Lou is a life member of the Continental Village Fire Department where he has served as board member, vice president, chairman of the board, secretary, chaplain, and lieutenant of the fire police. He is also a chaplain for the Putnam Northern Westchester Fire Police Association.
Grand Marshal Aide Bob Kelleher was born in the original Peekskill Hospital in 1946. He spent his childhood years growing up in Verplanck, NY, where he still resides. Bob, affectionately called, “Coach K” spent over 40 years coaching the Town of Cortlandt Colts youth football team. Almost anywhere Bob goes, he frequently gets to recollect the gridiron days with former players. Bob worked as a Local 501 and a Local 3 Electrician for 40 years in New York City and Westchester County.
In his spare time, Bob became involved with the Verplanck Fire House. He is a Life Member and Trustee of Peekskill Elks Lodge. He is also a member of the Kolping Society and the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
Backstory of the Peekskill St. Patrick’s Parade
This is the 36th anniversary of the Peekskill St. Patrick’s Parade Committee. Only two times in its history has the parade not made its way through Peekskill: 2020 and 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It resumed in 2022 with former Westchester County Legislator and Peekskill Mayor John G. Testa as Grand Marshal, followed by Daniel F. McCarthy in 2023, and former NYS Governor George E. Pataki as Grand Marshal in 2024 as reported by the Peekskill Herald.
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Previous Grand Marshal’s of the Peekskill St. Patrick’s Parade
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Previous Grand Marshal’s of the Peekskill St. Patrick’s Parade
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The first annual Peekskill St. Patrick’s Parade was held in March of 1990. Bill Powers, Chairman Emeritus of Peekskill St. Patrick’s Committee, 2007 Grand Marshal, and former TV host of St. Patrick’s parades from 1990-2019, says that a group of volunteers called “Pride In Peekskill” were charged with developing a series of events to celebrate the city’s 50th Anniversary. With $500 in startup money from the Peekskill Common Council and encouragement from the Irish community, the non-profit group’s first big public endeavor was to be a St. Patrick’s Parade.” The first Grand Marshal was the beloved Dr. John McGurty, Sr. “With a beaming smile and friendly wave, the very dapper-looking Irishman named McGurty, clad in a tuxedo and top hat, was buoyed by the throngs of well-wishers who came to see the first parade and the first Grand Marshal,” recalls Powers.
The crowds come every year regardless of the weather. Estimates of attendance at the first parade, held in the evening, were about 3,000 people. Every year since, the numbers fluctuate. Crowds have watched as the marchers carry on the annual tradition through beautiful warm nights, and through rain and snow flurries.
As Bill Powers mentions, “The parade is a mainstay in the City of Peekskill—one of the last remaining branded events in Peekskill. The warmth of the community and the brevity of the parade route make the Peekskill St. Patrick’s Parade a favorite of bands and community groups.”
HVIF presents: St. Patrick’s Day Celebration at the Paramount Hudson Valley
On Sunday, March 16, starting at 4 p.m. at the Paramount Hudson Valley, the Hudson Valley Irish Fest and Cultural Center (HVIF), based in downtown Peekskill, presents a St. Patrick’s Celebration featuring Cherish the Ladies with The Daisy Jopling Band and special guests
For one performance only, Cherish the Ladies and Daisy Jopling will bring their musical talents together to perform on the Paramount stage for an festive afternoon of Irish Music.
Cherish the Ladies, celebrating their 40th Anniversary Tour, will team up with Daisy Jopling and her Band. The concert will feature special guests, such as “America’s Pipe Major” and Peekskill Bagpiper extraordinaire Joe Brady, World Champion Irish Step Dancers, award-winning singers and musicians, and Rising of the Moon Seisun. All of these artists will join together to fill the Paramount with the music and dance of the Irish.
Grammy-nominated Irish American group Cherish the Ladies formed to celebrate the rise of extraordinary women in what had been a male-dominated Celtic music scene. Celebrating their 40th anniversary, they have shared timeless Irish traditions and good cheer with audiences worldwide with their exhilarating mix of traditional Irish music, stunning vocals, and propulsive step dancing.
Peekskill’s Daisy Jopling has collaborated with prominent artists worldwide and composed music performed on television and in major concert halls the world over. She was the first international violinist to perform a major concert at the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt collaborating with Egyptian stars, as was highlighted in the Peekskill Herald in 2022. Her solo work has included playing a concerto at the Royal Albert Hall in London at the age of 14 and playing twice before 30,000 people at the opening of the Vienna Festival. In addition, Daisy has raised thousands of dollars for instruments for the Peekskill City School District, has performed enchanting evenings at the Abbey Inn & Spa, featured local students at the “The Northgate Story” at the Cornish Estate, performed on Bannerman Island which was simulcast on PBS, and created the Ovations Strings Program for the children and youth in the City of Peekskill.
Tickets for this magical evening of Irish performance can be purchased by visiting the Paramount Hudson Valley website or by clicking this link.
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