And the Hoboken Parade 2011 Grand Marshall is...Bill Noonan. Bill Noonan has been an advocate for the St. Patrick's Day Parade for years and now gets to be the "Grand PooBah" for this years parade. Regardless of your own opinions of this event and more importantly the aftermath, Bill's dedication and committment behind the scenes to making this event continue are good reasons why he was elected Grand Marshall of Hoboken's 2011 St. Patrick's Day Parade. He even has a touch of Irish in him too!
The parade after party last year was much better controlled than the year in 2010. Prior that in 2009 we had Dave Roberts Public Safety Director Bill Bergin fixated on a fornicating couple on a balcony/window while all hell broke loose in the streets. Chief Falco and the City of Hoboken did a much better job of controlling the crowds last year and while there were still incidents that I would prefer not to have seen, it generally had much less incidents of debauchery, disorderly conduct and lewdness. The parade itself is a wonderful community event and is one of my favorite Hoboken events every year. I guess it irks me when dog owners make such a big deal about some drunk guy taking a leak in the street while their dogs take daily dumps on our sidewalks. The simple solution for public urination was more porta-potties and it seemed to work for the most part.
Congratulations to Bill Noonan, you will make a fine Grand Marshall.
Editor's Note: Talk of the Town is a piece I occasionally do if I have information that isn't official but I am pretty sure is accurate based on a source or mulitple sources that I trust. Sometimes it can be based on a rumor or in this case unofficially confirmed through a very good source.
