This year we are proud to have Paula Murphy as our Grand Marshal. Paula is the Chair of our Foundations’ Beautification Committee, among many community endeavors
We officially bestow the honor to Paula at the annual Passing of the Sash. The Passing of the Sash takes place on Sunday, February 24, 12-3pm at Fulton’s Gate Irish Pub.
Also featured at this event is an Irish Soda Bread Contest with many of our local restaurants participating. As always, the popular Irish Band, Bangers & Mash will be performing all day.
We also celebrate our Grand Marshal with the annual publication of the St. Patchogue Wit & Wisdom
Click here for advertising information in St. Patchogue Wit & Wisdom
About Paula Murphy:
“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do”- Rumi
I was raised in Blue Point on the bay but with strong roots in Patchogue. I attended St. Francis de Sales School and had many Patchogue friends. My father and uncle owned the Davis Park Ferry Company and had a business property on the Patchogue River. My cousins now have the ferry company, and my siblings and I have the Patchogue River property as well as properties at Davis Park on Fire Island.
Two things really formed my path in life:
- Growing up knowing that Patchogue was a village that had great shopping, great markets and a diverse population. I have lived in the village for 53 years (OMG!) and raised four children here and who have a great attachment to their hometown. It continues to be a town of diverse population, which for me only reflects my values of how we need to live.
- Growing up on the Great South Bay and the beaches of Blue Point and Fire Island gave me a sense of environmental responsibility and a love of nature.
I have been retired for 18 years after 33 years of teaching intermediate grades in the Blue Point Bayport and Connetquot School Districts, where I incorporated outdoor education programs into the curriculum and started an after school garden club. Upon retirement I joined the Patchogue Garden Club and the rest is almost history. I followed my interest in projects and realized I have compiled quite a list:
Greater Patchogue Foundation -Vice President
Greater Patchogue Foundation Beautification Committee Chairperson
∙ Secured Lowes “Home Town Heroes” grant to honor 6 members of the community with a planting of 6 cherry trees on Baker Street
∙ Planting Design Roe Walk Way
∙ Planting Design Shapiro Plaza
∙ Planting Design RR Tower Garden
∙ Planting Design Oak Street Parking Islands
∙ Planting Design Foley Square
∙ Sylvia Roeloffs’ Memorial Sculpture -Terry Street
∙ Eloise Staudinger Memorial Bench and Plantings-Colony Shop
∙ Memorial Bench Program
∙ Adopt-A-Bed Program
∙ Organize and Host Annual Eloise Staudinger Beautification Fundraiser
∙ Plant Flowers at the Oak Street Parking area and the RR station
∙ 2011 Brookhaven Town Woman of the Year-Landscape Design
2014 Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce recognition for “Outstanding contributions to the beautification of the community and the Village of Patchogue”
Business Improvement District Beautification Committee
∙ Planting Design Waverly Avenue Spur and Circle
∙ Plant Seasonal Planters through out the village
Patchogue Arts Council Founding Member and Public Art Chairperson
∙ Liaison to Patchogue Village regarding future Public Art ideas
∙ PAC Hospitality Committee
Patchogue Garden Club Member and Past President
∙ Organize Patchogue Garden Club Annual Garden Tour
∙ Organize Speaker Program
Patchogue Village Conservation Tree Committee President
∙ Tree Planting Habitat Restoration Project on Bay Avenue
∙ Organize Arbor Day Programs between the village and local
Schools
∙ 2003 Newsday Essay Winner “A Tree for Patchogue” (Beech tree and Planting at Lake View Cemetery establishing an Arboretum Cemetery )
Cemetery Restoration Committee
∙ Operations -Chairperson
Following in the footsteps of Patchogue’s many beautification efforts led by Eloise Staudinger, Sylvia Roeloffs, and Carl Unger. I feel honored to share their efforts with Karen Grote Ferb and to have carried on their groundbreaking work with the encouragement and support of Patchogue Village, the Greater Patchogue Foundation, and the Business Improvement District as well as the help of many donors and dedicated volunteers.
Patchogue has never looked so vibrant, and I am pleased to be a part of it.
Paula Miller Murphy
