Borough celebrates Irish heritage

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Cronin, Green named Irish Mayors for the Day

David Cronin and Kathryn (Cronin) Green take in the view from behind the mayor’s desk in Town Hall on Saturday. The siblings were honored as Naugatuck’s co-Irish Mayors for the Day. –ELIO GUGLIOTTI

NAUGATUCK — The color choice on Saturday in Naugatuck was green as the borough celebrated St. Patrick’s Day.

“Irish-America history in Naugatuck is as old as Naugatuck history itself,” Mayor Robert Mezzo said.

The festivities began with a parade down Church Street to Town Hall where borough residents and siblings Kathryn (Cronin) Green and David Cronin were honored as Naugatuck’s co-Irish Mayors for the Day.

Mezzo told the crowd gathered in front of Town Hall that it’s very common to recognize heroes in ethic cultures who have succeeded in the highest levels of business, government, science, or the arts.

“But, the true heroes of each and every ethnic heritage here in Naugatuck … are those people like Mr. Cronin and Mrs. Green,” Mezzo said.

People, Mezzo said, who have raised a family, worked hard and contributed to Naugatuck’s society on so many levels.

Cronin and Greene’s contributions to the borough come on a variety of levels.

Green worked as a school nurse and taught health in borough schools before retiring in 1973. She remained active through a number of ways after her retirement including organizing flu clinics and being involved with the Senior Center. She currently chairs the Naugatuck Elderly Commission.

“I’m very proud of our ancestry, and I’ve worked hard in this town too,” Green said.

Cronin was instrumental in brining the new automated trash collection service to the borough, was associated with the Naugatuck Taxpayers in Revolt from 1994 to 2010, and has served on several town boards including presently on the Charter Revision Commission.

“It’s nice to be recognized together for the things that we have done,” Cronin said.

The Cronins traced their heritage back to the early 1800s when their grandfather settled in Canada after leaving Ireland following the potato famine. Their father moved the family to America in 1930, driving down from Canada in a 1929 Chevrolet, Cronin explained.

Green said their parents would be very happy to know that they were chosen to be co-Irish Mayors for the Day.

“Our parents up in heaven are smiling,” Cronin said.

See more photos from the celebration here.