2018 Coronation of King and Queen Brian and Kate Johnson to be held March 16
Allentown St. Patrick’s Parade to take place March 18
February 6, 2018 (Allentown, PA) The Allentown St. Patrick’s Parade Committee, Inc. announced today that Brian and Kate Johnson are the 2018 King and Queen of the 61st Allentown St. Patrick’s Parade. The Allentown St. Patrick’s Parade will be held March 18, 2018 and will depart the Allentown Fairgrounds at 1: 30 pm.
Brian and Kate Johnson both grew up in Allentown; Kate in the 6th Ward and Brian in the Hamilton Park area. Kate’s family has deep roots in the Parade. Her parents, Jim and Betty McGorry, served as King and Queen in 1972. Her aunt and uncle, Joe and Edna McGorry and cousins, Dennis and Maryellen McGorry, were Kings and Queens in 1980 and 2005, respectively. Her uncle, Raymond Cramsey, was one of the original Parade organizers in the 1950s. As a very Irish-looking little girl, Kate served on the “courts” of her mother and father and many other Kings and Queens in the Parade. For many years, the McGorrys held an open house immediately following the Parade. Brian’s sister and brother-in-law, Bob and Cathy Boyle, were King and Queen in 1982 and his sister, Sheila, then a senior at Allentown Central Catholic High School, was the St. Patrick’s Day Observance Society’s queen in 1964.
Brian and Kate met in 1982 and married at Immaculate Conception Church in 1984. Kate grew up in Immaculate Conception Parish and Brian in the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Siena Parish. They both graduated from Allentown Central Catholic High School. They have been members of St. Thomas More Parish for 28 years. They have continuously lived and worked in and around Allentown, Brian first as a lawyer and now as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County, and Kate first as a nurse and now as an admissions manager with Lehigh Valley Hospital Rehabilitation Center. They have four children, Brandon, Sarah, Matthew and Emily. Brian and Kate welcomed their first grandchild, James, last spring.
Kate’s Irish heritage includes the Rodgers line through her mother back to County Donegal and the McGorry line through her father back to County Tyrone. Brian’s Irish heritage includes the Johnson (in Ireland, MacSeain) line through his father back to County Derry and the O’Donnell line through his mother, back to County Donegal. For generations, Kate’s family lived in Allentown and Brian’s in the Hazelton area. Brian’s uncle, Andrew O’Donnell, is responsible for inspiring Brian’s family to move to Allentown in 1961 and for effecting the fateful meeting of Brian and Kate 21 years later.
Brian and Kate will be crowned at the annual Coronation Celebration to be held March 16, 2018 at the Agricultural Hall Annex at the Allentown Fairgrounds. The Coronation Celebration begins with doors opening at 7:00 pm and the Coronation takes place at 9 pm. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door and include a copy of the 2018 St. Patrick’s Parade Program Book, complimentary beer, soda, and a door prize ticket. The event is BYOB. There is no cost for anyone under 21. The Allentown Fairgrounds/Agricultural Hall Annex is located at 19th and Liberty Streets, Allentown, PA 18104. For tickets to the Coronation Celebration go to www.allentownstpatricksparade.com.
For more information about the Coronation Celebration or the 61st Allentown St. Patrick’s Parade please contact Jennifer Eck at Jennifer.m.eck@gmail.com or call 610.462.3730 or go to www.allentownstpatricksdayparade.com.
About the Allentown St. Patrick’s Parade
The first known St. Patrick’s Parade was held in Allentown in the late 1860’s. Over a century later, in 1955, what we know as the modern day Allentown St. Patrick’s Parade was organized by business and political leaders through the St. Patrick’s Day Observance Society. The Parade ran from 12th and Hamilton Streets to the Immaculate Conception Church on Ridge Avenue. The Parade will celebrate its 61st Anniversary on March 18, 2018 departing from the Allentown Fairgrounds at 1:30 pm, and for the third year the Presenting Sponsor will be GIANT Food Stores. For more information or to participate in the 2018 Allentown St. Patrick’s Parade go to www.allentownstpatricksparade.com. Registration to participate in the 2018 Parade is open and can be done by completing the online registration form at www.allentownstpatricksparade.com through February 15, 2018. The Allentown St. Patrick’s Parade reserves the right to approve all registration submissions.
Information and image provided to TVL by:
Jennifer Eck
Jennifer Eck, LLC
