Caption Above: Michael Bradley and his wife Linda stand with their sons Mickey & Colin at the Penn State Beaver Stadium.
Jim Murray was the 2014 Eagles GM and Founder of Ronald McDonald House.
By Marita Krivda Poxon
Michael Bradley finally gets to be the Grand Marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade after its two-year, pandemic-caused postponement.
Although very proud of this role, Bradley wants the focus of the day to be on the fact that this is the 250th year of St. Patrick’s Day festivities in Philadelphia. In 1771, St. Patrick’s Day was first celebrated in Philadelphia which means that celebrating St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, started five years before the 1776 founding of our country.
Bradley has been the parade director for 22 years and has been one of the 26 members of the St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association for many more years. Along with the board members, most of whom have served almost as long as he. Bradley made sure that this proud history would be part of the 2022 parade theme: “250 Years of Faith, Family, Friendship and Heritage.”
Bradley has a rather unusual parade background. He has never marched in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade from start to finish in his entire life. In his 22 years as parade director, Bradley has always started out at the kick-off parade location and then hitched a ride with the police to the reviewing stand where the TV anchors are always located. Doing this has always ensured that everything about the parade has flowed on time from the start.
His eagle eye has helped keep the parade moving with precision. This skill over the years has assured accurate, live TV coverage of the 200 or so groups that march or perform in front of the judges at the reviewing stand. This is no miracle but is a direct result of Bradley going back to his childhood.
Bradley as a kid watched the parade from the sidelines since his family were not “big shots.” His parents didn’t know any parade officials. When young, his parents always took him to the parade to watch from the sidelines. When he was older, he brought his little sisters.
The parade became part of his DNA at the 1956 parade. He has a 1956 photo of his father Mickey Bradley marching with the Shanahan Catholic Club of West Philadelphia. Also present at this 1956 parade was his mother Bernadette, who was pregnant with Michael. Before he was even born, the parade was in his blood.
Fast forward to adulthood and Bradley made his own connections with parade officials. In no time his can-do style and his remarkable multi-tasking skills landed him a coveted board position along with 22 years as parade director.
Bradley is very proud that his 28-year-old son, Colin, is the 2022 new Parade Director. The St. Patrick’s Day Observance Board elected Colin to this position in 2019 for the 2020 parade – at the same time Bradley was elected as grand marshal. However, because of Covid closing down the parade for two years, the 2022 parade will be his first parade as director.
The parade director position is almost a full-time job during the weeks preceding the parade. For the last five parades, Colin has assisted his father with running the parade when Bradley was needed in the TV booth.
Colin has had a busy full-time career. He studied Broadcast Journalism at Penn State University where he served as one of only two local news anchors. After graduation he was a TV anchor for ABC News in Maryland. Currently he works in video production for New Pace Productions, located in Ardmore, which provides digital and animation for businesses.
Bradley says “I have no qualms about Colin being parade director at all. He has the type of personality that can handle many things at once. He can direct the parade even better than I did when I first started. He knows the groups and knows what he is doing. Like me, he can juggle many things at once – the music, the announcers, the groups, the traffic, the marshals.”
Bradley has invited all the previous living grand marshals or family members of deceased grand marshals to march at the front of the parade with him. He wants to celebrate his own day along with others since he feels the 250th anniversary parade should be about others: “This is not about me as grand marshal and never has been about me. It is about all of us, our whole community — I want to make them all feel special. I think we just don’t march with our feet. I think we are marching with our hearts for the people that have come before us. I want to share with others and my family.”
There are a few Parade highlights this year. The Sam Maguire All Ireland Football Cup will be flown from County Tyrone, Ireland, in time for the parade. Members of the Tyrone Society will carry the cup at the front of the parade along with members of the GAA and the Bradley family.
Another highlight will be the honoring of the McDade-Cara School of Irish Dance whose head instructor, Sheila Sweeney, celebrates her 25th year as a certified Irish dance instructor part of a highly successful school in multiple locations. Sheila, along with her sister and partner Maureen Heather Lisowski (part of this year’s Ring of Honor) will march towards the front of the parade with their award-winning dancers.
In addition, the IHM, Immaculate Heart of Mary sisters, will be honored at the parade for the 175th anniversary of their founding in 1845. Superior General Sister Ellen Tennity, IHM, a member of this year’s Ring of Honor, will march representing all IHM sisters.
Ever the optimist, Bradley has confidence the weather will be fine on parade day. He feels it is now looking good since many Philadelphia Covid restrictions have been lifted. He anticipates a great turnout on parade day. But he freely admits it has been the hardest year yet for him and Colin.
An example of a major glitch is that Philadelphia laid off the special events people who always have erected parade bleachers and stands. Not to worry…Bradley has no doubt that all the loose ends will be tied up and the bleachers will go up. No doubts at all that on March 13th, 2022 the parade will kickoff like clockwork again.
This year CBS TV station, not Fox TV as in recent years, broadcast the parade from 12 Noon until 3 p.m. on March 13th. They rebroadcast the entire parade on March 17th from 9 a.m. until Noon on CBS 3 station. Here Bradley sees the hand of providence since CBS stepped forward to cover the parade again as they did in the past. Of course, Bradley has the luck of the Irish behind him and always has.