By Mike Leavy
Parades last a day. But people work throughout the year to make that day happen.
Brian Conley was one of them.
Every January, while the world was waiting for spring, the Morristown resident would be busy distributing parade pins that he helped design to bars and establishments, for sale to raise money for the Morris County St Patrick’s Parade.
Brian started managing the creation and distribution of the pins with his friend Paul Cavanaugh about 20 years ago.
When Paul passed, Brian would bring his granddaughter Maddie with him on Saturdays to collect the money. “A true and loving bond formed for eight years of the Saturday pin money,” Brian’s wife Christine said.
“You knew the season for the parade was starting when Brian made sure to get the pins to the bars before the Superbowl to cash in,” said Kerry Lynn Walsh-Wood, parade volunteer and event organizer.
Brian passed away in June 2022 after an illness. He was 70. The Parade Committee wanted to honor Brian’s memory and his dedication to the parade.
“We thought what better time to do this than in January with a parade pin party, since this was the time Brian would be distributing the pins,” Woods said.
So tonight, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, at 7 pm, the public is invited to the First Annual Brian Conley Memorial Pin Party at The Grasshopper off the Green at 41 Morris St. in Morristown. Admission is $25 and includes food.
Artie Flinn of the parade committee member summed up Brian’s contributions to the parade.
“Brian Conley was an integral part of the parade committee. More than that, Brian was the perfect volunteer: Quiet, humble, dependable, and always putting the success of the parade over everything else. He is missed incredibly by his fellow volunteers and we are all working hard to make him proud of our efforts,” Flinn said.
The event introduces this year’s parade pin. It also includes the unveiling of a pin dedicated to Brian’s years of service to the event.
“It’s small because of his never wanting recognition for whatever he did, because he did the pins for the good of his heritage, never for anything more,” Christine said. “The green background and shamrocks stood for the love of the Irish Culture.”
“He simply was the best there was,” she said.
Information on how to purchase parade pins is here.
