The Manchester St. Patrick’s Parade returns on Sunday, March 27, with Matt Casey, owner and operator of Casey Magee’s Irish Pub & Music Hall in Nashua, as its new “official Leprechaun.”
How did you land this official leprechaun gig?
I opened up an Irish pub, Casey Magee’s, in the middle of the pandemic, in June of 2020. … The logo for the pub is actually [an image of] me as a leprechaun. … I reached out to the organizers of the Manchester [St. Patrick’s] Parade and explained to them that I wanted to participate. They accepted me and are going to allow me to promote my pub in the parade. The plan is for me to march in the parade every year as the official leprechaun.
What will you be doing in the parade?
I’ll be walking. I try not to bring a cane or anything, because I like to have my hands free so that I can wave and shake everybody’s hand. People like to put their arm around me and take a picture with me. … This year it’ll be just me, but eventually I’d like to have my pub staff join me with a banner.
How do you prepare?
I started growing a beard — a big, red beard — out in the fall. … I bought a new hat [on which] I’m going to either sew or glue white letters that say ‘Casey Magee’s.’ I also have a green corduroy jacket that I got four or five years ago, which is vintage from the ’60s. I’m going to put ‘Casey Magee’s’ on the jacket also, somehow. Then I have all the lapel pins to put on. I have at least 30, and about half of them I actually purchased myself in Ireland. … [The night before the parade,] after I close the pub, I’m going to drive to Manchester. I rented a hotel room downtown. I’ll check in at around 3 a.m., and get everything for my outfit laid out so that I know I’m not missing anything. I’ll go to bed, wake up, put on my outfit and walk out the front door of the hotel as the leprechaun.
Do you have prior leprechaun experience?
Yes. I’ve been marching in St. Patrick’s Day parades for roughly 20 years. … I started in the Providence, Rhode Island, one. … I was a Las Vegas leprechaun for about six years years while I lived out there. I used to do the [St. Patrick’s Day] toasts on the Las Vegas strip at midnight, and that was really fun. Then I was the leprechaun in the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade from 2017 to 2019.
How did you get your start?
I’ve always tried to [wear] everything-green on Saint Patrick’s Day. When I was in college, I purchased a green coat, a hat, a bow tie and a vest, and I went to the local Irish pub. The Providence St. Patrick’s Day parade was that weekend. The lady that [organized the parade] ran into me at the pub and said, ‘Hey, we don’t have a leprechaun; how would you like to be our leprechaun?’ and I said, ‘Of course, I will.’
What do you enjoy most about it?
It’s so much fun to see everybody smile and wave … and to see the looks on the kids’ faces when I shake their hand, or I give them a high five, or I give them a little plastic gold coin. Honestly, it’s the funnest day of the year for me, because I get to make everybody happy, and I get a lot of joy in doing that. I’ll continue to do it for as long as I can and for as long as they’ll let me do it. Somebody has to do it, right?
What does this opportunity mean to you, as someone with Irish heritage?
Celebrating my family’s heritage and the history of Ireland is part of why I do it. … New Hampshire has a large Irish population, so there’s a lot of excitement for the parade, and I love to share that with everybody.
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.
Covid-19 news
On March 8, the state Department of Health & Human Services announced in a press release that all of the state-managed Covid-19 testing sites will permanently close on Tuesday, March 15. Both PCR and antigen-based Covid tests remain easily accessible, including at all New Hampshire Liquor and Wine Outlet stores and at dozens of hospitals, health care practices, pharmacies and urgent care centers. See covid19.nh.gov for a full list of locations that offer tests.
Elliot Hospital also recently said goodbye to a team of 14 officials from the federal Department of Defense helping out with the latest Covid surge, according to a March 9 report from WMUR. The team, which included several nurses and technicians, as well as a physician and an advanced care provider, had been assisting hospital staff for the past two months.
State health officials announced 86 new positive Covid test results on March 11, surpassing the 300,000 mark for overall cases in New Hampshire since the start of the pandemic two years ago. Despite this milestone, numbers continue to trend downward — only 43 active hospitalizations were reported on March 14, the fewest since early August of last year. In a press release issued that same day, DHHS reminded people of the availability of two oral antiviral medications, Paxlovid and molnupiravir. According to the release, both can be prescribed by providers via phone or through a telemedicine visit and can be taken at home.
Trooper training
Eleven members from the New Hampshire Division of State Police have completed the national Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement Project, which provides training and support to help law enforcement agencies build a culture of peer intervention that prevents harm. According to a press release, those 11 designated instructors will now be able to provide ABLE training to all other New Hampshire state troopers. The Project’s Board of Advisors is made up of civil rights, social justice and law enforcement leaders, and the strategies and tactics that are taught through the program aim to prevent misconduct, reduce mistakes and promote health and wellness, the release said. The training is consistent with the recommendations of the state’s Commission on Law Enforcement Accountability, Community, and Transparency. “This training will ensure that we continue to provide the highest degree of law enforcement service throughout the state while maintaining our core values of professionalism, fairness and integrity,” State Police Col. Nathan Noyes said in the release.
Courtroom equity
The New Hampshire Women’s Foundation released a new Gender Matters report last week that explores the inequitable representation of women and people of color in the New Hampshire judicial branch, according to a press release. “Women in the New Hampshire Judiciary” points to the fact that 38 percent of all New Hampshire state court judges are women, with the ratios of female judges being even smaller in the state’s Superior and Supreme Courts. Only one person of color, a woman, is currently serving as a judge in the state judicial system. According to the release, governors’ administrations play an important part in who makes up the judicial system; former Gov. Maggie Hassan’s administration appointed the highest percentage of women during her tenure, at 48 percent. “Representation matters in all branches of government,” Tanna Clews, CEO of the New Hampshire Women’s Foundation said in the release. “We see many opportunities in New Hampshire to increase gender and racial diversity among New Hampshire judges.” Some of the Foundation’s policy recommendations to increase gender and racial diversity include urging governors to nominate more women and people of color; appointing more members with gender and racial diversity to the Judicial Selection Commission; and providing female attorneys a mentorship program that supports career trajectory, including judgeship.
University system chancellor
The University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees voted last week to combine the university system’s chancellor position with the role of the president of the University of New Hampshire on an interim basis for the next two-plus years. According to a press release, UNH President James W. Dean Jr. will serve as interim chancellor effective immediately, and the combined role will be in place through June 30, 2024. The board will evaluate the efficacy of the new position throughout that time. The chancellor role has remained vacant since former Chancellor Todd Leach departed in June 2021; since then, the board and administrative leadership have focused on “the economic stability, growth and transformation of its institutions” and explored various governance structure options to determine which might best secure those outcomes. In the new role, Dean will “lead and ensure the success of UNH, including the current merger of UNH and Granite State College, while working with the other campus presidents to advance the interests of KSC, PSU and the overall university system,” the release said.
Preschooler support
Federal funds are being used to make the Waterford Upstart at-home program available to hundreds more pre-K-age children in New Hampshire. According to a press release, the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund will give more kids access to Waterford Upstart Summer Learning Path from June to August. The program is designed to prepare young students for kindergarten, and many who complete it “will be reading at a nearly first-grade level,” the release said. It offers positive parent-child interactions through personalized online instruction. The summer program has kids working on the curriculum for 20 minutes a day, five days a week. “Preschool is the ideal platform for children to build a strong academic foundation and enhance language and literacy — skills that are critical for school readiness,” Christine Brennan, deputy commissioner of education, said in the release. New Hampshire families with a child entering kindergarten in the fall of 2022 or the fall of 2023 can register by calling 1-888-982-9898 or visiting WaterfordUpstart.org. “The Waterford Upstart program helps close the well-documented preschool access gap, providing proven school-readiness support for children most at risk of school failure,” Frank Edelblut, commissioner of education, said in the release.
The Nashua Board of Education and the Nashua Teachers’ Union have tentatively reached a four-year contract agreement. According to a press release, negotiating teams met last week and agreed to an average salary increase of 4.1 percent over four years for all teachers, totaling $11,127,830. “Our teachers, nurses, counselors, school psychologists, and many others have been at the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic these last two years and this agreement recognizes their efforts and honors their work with increased pay, benefits, and support,” Superintendent Garth J. McKinney said in the release.
Husband and wife Max and Saverna Ahmad of Bedford, who founded the ride-share startup Rydelinx, have expanded their operations beyond New Hampshire to all 50 states. According to a press release, Rydelinx lets riders name their price and choose specific drivers or vehicle types, while drivers can accept the ride, counter the offer or decline the ride.
Hollis police are cracking down on drunk drivers, having doubled the number of arrests for suspected drunk driving this year compared to this time in 2021, according to a report from WMUR. Several officers have taken advanced roadside impairment detection classes to help with this effort, the report said.
What does a high school diploma get you? Some might say that someone with a high school diploma will earn more money over their lifetime than someone who hasn’t earned a diploma. That may be true, but do you credit the diploma for the extra earnings? Does that diploma tell you anything about the specific skills that an individual would bring to the workplace? I believe that the high school diploma has largely outlived its usefulness and that the end game in high school should no longer be to simply earn a diploma.
What does a high school diploma tell you about someone? For example, if someone got a B in biology, can anyone tell me what that person knows and is able to do with what he or she learned in biology? How did they get the B? Did they get it because they got a B average on their tests? Was it because they passed their homework in on time? Did they regularly participate in class discussions? Did they do well on the final exam? Maybe they were nice to the teacher. Whatever they did, it translated into a B. Even if we assume that they did fairly well in their biology class, how much of what they were taught will they actually retain even two weeks after the exam?
And what are colleges supposed to translate from your grades in high school? Why is it that 40 percent of college freshmen need to take remedial courses in either math or language arts? Can we assume that their high school transcripts were interpreted by the admissions officers to be that these students actually had skills in those areas? Then how come they had to take remedial courses?
I believe the high school diploma’s usefulness is coming to an end, and that the new coin of the realm for high schools will be certifications and career credentials; something that will give confidence to anyone who has interest in someone holding one of these credentials that they have achieved the skills necessary to perform the associated tasks, be it a welder’s license, a massage therapist’s license, an associate’s degree in a specific field, etc. These credentials not only give someone confidence that you have the requisite skills but they immediately carry weight in the marketplace when seeking specific jobs.
Career-related credentials are coming soon to a high school near you and they will be a welcome improvement over the outdated notion of a diploma.
Fred Bramante is a past chairman and memtber of the New Hampshire State Board of Education. He speaks and consults on education redesign to regional, state and national organizations.
