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Manhattan Irish Fest 2011 Grand Marshals Announced

The Manhattan Park District Irish Fest Committee is working hard to finalize the details for the 2011 Irish Fest.

Sheila Kelly-Simnick  /  January 27, 2011  /  Views: 27051  /   1 Comment

The Manhattan Park District Irish Fest Committee is working hard to finalize the details for the 2011 Irish Fest. The entertainment schedule will be released in the upcoming weeks and sponsors are still being sought to help make this year's event the most successful Fest to date.

Also this week, King and Queen Scholarship information will be distributed around town and on the Fest's web site, www.manhattanirishfest.com/.

The committee has announced the Grand Marshals for the 2011 Manhattan Irish Fest parade. This year, Manhattan area residents Sean Hannigan and Kevin Molloy will be honored at the parade on March 5 at 11 a.m. in downtown Manhattan.

As part of the Manhattan Youth Athletic Association (MYAA), Sean and Kevin have helped turn the Fest from a fun, small town event to a large scale festival that has produced hundreds of thousands of dollars for various groups in the Manhattan area.

The Fest was started in 1995 by members of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce. In 2000, the MYAA took over as the main committee for the Fest and ran it until 2004. Kevin led the Fest as chairman from 2000 to 2002 while Sean guided the group in 2003 and 2004.

Kevin started the MYAA in 1999 and added the Fest as a major undertaking the following year. He helped to expand the Fest into a two-day event and greatly increased the amount of revenue generated by the event for local community groups. The model created by Kevin and continued by Sean is still used by the Fest committee today.

Hannigan said about Kevin: "I have known Kevin for a long time now and if there is one thing to say about him is he gets the job done, and thanks to his attention to detail and tireless organizing, he pulled off that first Fest with less than three months of planning.....he made it a great family event our town can be proud of."

Kevin is a 22-year resident of Manhattan and has been married for 26 years to Sue. They have three children, Chad (24), Adam (22) and Casey (16). In addition to his service with the Manhattan Youth Athletic Association and the Manhattan Irish Fest, Kevin was the executive director of Curtain Call Community Theatre from 2002-2009 and was elected to the Lincoln-Way District 210 Board of Education, on which he has served since 2005. Kevin has been an agent with State Farm Insurance, based in New Lenox since 1980.

Sean took over the Fest from Kevin in 2003. Kevin stated, "I have known Sean for over 12 years, and I have appreciated Sean's desire to give back to his community. Sean took a strong leadership role in Irish Fest in year two of the MYAA's handling of the event, and through his actions, he makes it better year-after-year. I have been around many people in public service and one of my favorite quotes is 'Lead, Follow or Get Out of The Way.' Sean leads and he leads well."

Sean moved to Manhattan in 1994 with his wife, Patty, and daughter, Colleen. Kelsey was born in 1995. Sean moved his insurance office from Olympia Fields to Manhattan in 1995 and has been involved with several community groups and organizations. In 2003, he became chairman of Irish Fest.

In 2005, he was appointed to Manhattan Park District Board, formed the Park District Foundation and moved $50,000 from MYAA to the foundation for building more fields for Manhattan young people.

Sean is finishing his term as a Manhattan Park District Commissioner.

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Steve

on March 4, 2011 at 15:03

Sorry your history is wrong about Sean. There were many good people that were Chairpersons ahead of Sean. Sorry Sean.

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