Friendly Sons to Honor Several Community Members at March 15 Dinner

The Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick have announced their honorees for the year 2018 to be honored at the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick’s Annual Dinner at the Edward G. Connolly Center, 94 Chelsea St., at 7 p.m. on March 15.

Honorees this year include Bill Perkins, Bill and Brenda Marchant, Gene O’Brien, Frances X. Hogan, and Councilor John Leo McKinnon.

The honorees will receive the traditional shillelagh as a token of gratitude for their dedication to community service. The dinner is a light-hearted evening filled with laughter and camaraderie in the true Irish tradition. There will be a cocktail hour from 6-7 p.m.

This year’s honorees are:

  • BILL PERKINS, a member of the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame, he was the first varsity football coach at Pope John High School and coached the Tigers for almost 30 years. He was also the Athletic Director at Pope John for 18 years. He also was the founder of the Everett Huskies, Massachusetts’ first Pop Warner program, the St. Therese Titans Pop Warner team and the St. Therese Toreadors Drum & Bugle Corps. Perkins, who was employed as an Administrator with the Mass. Dept. of Youth Services for 30 years, was also the first coach of the Everett Eagles.

Born and raised in Everett, and a graduate of EHS in 1952, Perkins is married to former Kathleen Bohanon of Everett and the proud parent of four kids.

  • BILL AND BRENDA MARCHANT are both life-long citizens of Everett. They have been married since September of 1981 and have devoted much of their time to volunteering in the youth sports of Everett. Bill Marchant started coaching for the Everett Little League in 1993 as an assistant coach before taking over the Diamondbacks in 1994 leading them to two City Championships. Bill joined the Everett Huskies Pop Warner program in 1994 as a member of the Board of Directors and became President of the Everett Huskies in 1999. Bill Marchant served as president until 2005 and returned as vice-president in 2011. He also was instrumental in the negotiations that resulted in the merger of the Huskies with the Everett Eagles, thereby creating the Everett Crimson Tide Pop Warner organization. Bill Marchant was appointed one of the members of the Board of Directors for the Tide, and in 2013, he was named a lifetime member of the Everett Crimson Tide Pop Warner Organization.

Brenda Marchant coached for Everett Girls Softball league from 1996 until 2002. She joined the Everett Huskies Executive Board in 1994 and later went on to become Cheer Coordinator. In 2000, the Everett Huskies won the City of Everett’s first National Championship in Cheerleading with Brenda Marchant as the cheer coordinator. Brenda was named Cheer Co-Coordinator with Lisa Dell Isola, where they continued producing a great cheer program and winning another National Championship in 2012 and 2015, after which Brenda Marchant retired as coordinator.

Together, Bill and Brenda Marchant, have four children Jonathan, BJ, Jenna and Mari and one grandchild, Camden. The couple has spent more than 22 years volunteering their time to the youth sports of Everett.

  • GENE O’BRIEN – Has been the Director of Music for the Everett Public Schools since 1996. Over the past decade, O’Brien has built the Marching Band program, increasing its participation from 24 students to 80, expanded the music program to include String, Vocal, and full Vertical Instrumental Program, and has seen his efforts result in the program being cited by the National Association of Music Merchants as one of the top Music Education Programs in the United States.

As a result of his dedication, Everett students have performed in New York, Washington, D.C., San Diego, Dayton Ohio, the Orange Bowl in Miami, and Disney World in Orlando. Everett programs have been honored by becoming the first musical ensemble to ever perform in the Senate Chambers at the Massachusetts State House, by representing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in Washington D.C. in the 2015 National Memorial Day Parade, and by winning the Marching Band New England State Championship, the NESBA Percussion Open Class Championship, a National WGI Percussion Silver Medal, and NESBA Winter Championship.

O’Brien, who is a member of the Massachusetts Drum Corps and Music Educators Hall of Fame 2011, was the Parade Coordinator for the Everett 125th Parade Celebration and Drum and Bugle Competition this past July.

  • FRANCES X. HOGAN graduated from Mount St. Joseph Academy, Regis College, and Boston College Law School, where she was on the editorial board of the Law Review, and was elected to the Order of the Coif.

She became the first woman associated with Lyne, Woodworth & Evarts LLP where she represents major financial institutions in sophisticated commercial and real estate-related transactions. She focuses particularly on the representation of institutions, non-profits and governmental entities in connection with the development, construction and financing of affordable housing and community economic development projects.

In 1998, Hogan was appointed to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women where she served as chair of the Legislative Sub-Committee. She also serves, or has served, on the boards and as an officer of numerous organizations, such as the Caritas Christi Health Care System, Blessed John XXIII National Seminary, Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, president of the Regis College Alumnae Association, Boston College Law School Alumni Council, Catholic Lawyers Guild, Archdiocesan Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, and the Planning Office for Urban Affairs of the Archdiocese of Boston. She is also active in her local parish community where she serves, or has served, as president of the Parish Pastoral Council, chair of the Parish School Board, secretary to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, chair of the Christian Service Commission and in many other capacities. Hogan is a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

  • JOHN LEO McKINNON, City Councilor Ward Four, will be recognized for leading the charge against the opioid crisis in Everett. Thanks to his leadership and dedication, Everett has made giant strides in providing services and preventative measures to combat this epidemic. McKinnon is the public servant honoree for this year. Past honorees include Clerk of Committees John Burley, City Solicitor Colleen Mejia and the late School Committee member Robert Carreiro.

The Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick has been serving the Everett Community since 1954 and has had such distinguished guests as then-Senator John F. Kennedy, as well as a wide array of Governors, Senators, and other distinguished public servants.

Tickets are $35.00/person and are available by calling 617-953-4631.

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