The Manchester Saint Patrick’s Parade Committee is extremely excited, proud and honored to announce that the Master of Ceremonies who will be announcing from the review stand this year will be the 2012 Thomas J. King Award Honoree, John Clayton and last year’s Grand Marshall, Sheila O’Neil Smith. John is the executive director of the Manchester Historic Association and Millyard Museum.
He previously spent 25 years as a reporter and columnist for the New Hampshire Union Leader, and he is the author of seven amazing books about our great city of Manchester and the State of New Hampshire.
Mr. Clayton’s “In the City” column was a fixture on the front page of the Union Leader for more than 20 years and won numerous awards, including best local column from the New England Associated Press News Executives and “Best Local Author” from the readers of “New Hampshire” magazine.
Mr. Clayton received an Emmy Award for his work with New Hampshire Public Television where he was the long-time host of “New Hampshire Crossroads” and he was recently honored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council as one of the state’s “40 over 40” cultural icons.
He is also a Lifetime Associate Member of the William J. Shanahan Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians here in Manchester.
The 24th annual Manchester Saint Patrick’s Parade kicks off at noon on Sunday, March 31st from the Brady Sullivan Tower on the north end and proceeds south down Elm St. ending at the DoubleTree Hotel.