Newton's St. Patrick's Day Parade is postponed

Newton has joined the ranks of municipalities that have seen local parade cancellations as a preventative measure to slow spread of COVID-19. The 17th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which was scheduled to be held on Saturday, March 21 in Newton has now been postponed until further notice.

Parade Committee Chair Jason Miller issued a statement this afternoon thanking parade volunteers and expressing gratitude to the community for their support of the Newton Fire Department, which was hosting and sponsoring this year's Sussex County Parade for the first time. In previous years the parade was sponsored and organized by Sussex County.

"We already had groups calling saying that their members were not participating in order to be safe," Miller said. "Ultimately, it was our decision to postpone the parade until a further date, as a preventative measure and to follow suit with other towns. We're a fire department, keeping people safe is what we do. We're saddened by it, of course. This was planned to be one of the biggest parades and the best."

Miller said that members of the parade committee are tossing around alternative ideas.

"So, now we're playing with a couple of ideas for something...like Morristown is thinking of St. Patty's in September. Our committee has to get in touch with all of the sponsors. It's sad because everyone was looking forward to it. But, we'll do something when everyone is healthy again."

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/SussexCoStPatricksDayParade/ for more information or send email to nfdstpatricks2020@gmail.com.