YARMOUTH – This year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Yarmouth will honor fallen Yarmouth Police Sergeant Sean Gannon, who was killed in the line of duty on April 12, 2018 while serving an arrest warrant.
Organizers said the parade will feature participants from a cross-section of the community that has shown “a tremendous outpouring of support” for the commemorative parade.
Parade Committee Chairman Desmond Keogh said he reached out to Gannon’s family, and they gave approval for the committee to begin making preparations for this year’s parade in honor of Sean and Nero, Sgt. Gannon’s K-9 partner that was also injured in the incident.
Keogh said the focus of this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, “The Spirit of Community,” is to “offer the community an opportunity to heal and feel Sgt. Gannon’s spirit, and love for the parade that he marched in for many years.”
“We waited and waited months and months and months and eventually we reached out to the Gannon family and asked if it would be okay to have the parade in honor of Sergeant Gannon,” Keogh explained.
“Part of it was healing. Everybody on the Cape was devastated and they still are. You’ll never ever ever get over it, but when we started we thought it would be something where people would be healing by seeing the outpouring of love and support from the community that came out after the tragic event.”
Sgt. Gannon and Nero had been regular participants in the Yarmouth parade, and Keogh thought that the committee should do something in their honor.
Nero will be participating in the parade this year as he has in the past, despite earlier reports that he would be absent. Other K-9 officers and their dogs will be also attending along the parade route.
The Grand Marshal for this year’s parade is retired Yarmouth Police K9 officer Peter B. McClelland, who trained Nero as a puppy and remained at his side while the dog was recuperating from his injuries.
A large police presence in honor of Gannon’s is expected, including Boston Police Commissioner William G. Gross, more than 20 police officers from Ireland, color guard units from across Cape Cod and beyond, and a Boston-area pipe and drum corps.
“From all over the country there’s going to be a sea of officers. We have the dogs coming, we have some canines up front,” said Parade Committee Member Tommy O’Nick.
“By the time the first guy passes the reviewing stand the last guy will be leaving the staging area. It’s going to be something that will bring the spirit of Cape Cod out, and that’s what we want.”
In addition to the police presence, the parade will feature 25 to 30 floats, marching bands from area high schools, civic groups and community leaders.
There will also be a group of marchers from Gannon’s graduating class at the MBTA Police Academy in Quincy, as well as the local Dennis-Yarmouth Girl’s Field Hockey team.
Gannon grew up in New Bedford, graduated from Bishop Stang High School in Dartmouth, and was a member of the Stonehill College Campus Police before joining the Yarmouth Police Department in 2010.
In addition to being a regular participant in the Cape Cod St. Patrick’s Parade, he was active in civic organizations. Officer Gannon was posthumously promoted to the rank of sergeant in honor of his dedication to the police force and the community.
The 14th annual Cape Cod St. Patrick’s Parade kicks off at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.
It will begin at Skull Island and head westward for 1.9 miles to the Town and Country, near the intersection of Route 28 and Higgins Crowell Road.
Parking is available on side streets near the parade route and at the old Yarmouth Drive In, where the Yarmouth Irish Festival will be held. There is no parking at Skull Island, which will be used as a staging area for the parade.
By TIM DUNN, CapeCod.com News Center
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