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Donny Golden Named St. Patrick's Day Parade Grand Marshal

Champion Irish step dancer honed craft at Mineola Irish American Society.

The Mineola-based honored Donny Golden as this year’s Grand Marshal at a ceremony Sunday night before nearly 300 people at the Irish American Center.

Golden’s first official duties as the Grand Marshal will be to lead the 61st annual Mineola-Garden City St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which will be held Sunday, March 6.

Irish-American Society President Betty McLoughlin and Aides to the Grand Marshal – Jackie Callaghan, Mary Mikowski, Tony Freeman and Chris Kerins -- will join Golden.

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“I’m very honored, it’s such a privilege,” Golden said. “I wasn’t expecting this honor.”

In addition to the Mineola-Garden City St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Golden will march in St. Patrick’s Day Parades in Rockville Centre and Glen Cove, and the big one – the 250th St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Manhattan on March 17.

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Golden is known throughout the Irish American Center for his step dancing, which he mastered at a young age and continues to teach to this day.

Growing up in Brooklyn in a strong Irish American community, Golden learned Irish music and dancing along with his siblings at a young age. By age 7, Golden began taking step-dancing lessons with a master teacher, Jerry Mulvihill. After three years with Mulvihill, Golden along with his four brothers and four sisters studied with the legendary dancer Jimmy Erwin in his step-dance school a few blocks from his home.

In 1970, then-16-year-old Donny Golden took first place in the highly competitive North American Irish Dance Championship. That same year, he became the first American-born competitor to win medals in both the All-Ireland (third place) and the World Championships Senior Men’s championship (second place), in Dublin. In 1977, he won the Senior title of the North American Irish Step Championship.

When Golden was 19, he started teaching on his own by starting the Donny Golden School of Irish Dance, which has trained scores of dancers, including several who have placed in the world championships. John Jennings, one of his students, won the world title in 1989.

Golden continued to perform long after retiring as a competitor. Since 1978, he has been a member of Green Fields of America, the top ensemble of Irish traditional performing artists in the United States. He is also a regular guest dancer with “Cherish the Ladies,” the only all-women’s group in Irish music.

For the last 20 years, Golden has toured nationally with the acclaimed Irish ensemble known as the “Chieftains” and has performed in hundreds of concerts throughout the U.S.

Golden was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Award & Fellowship in 1996, the only Irish dance teacher to received the honor. This prestigious award is granted to master folk and traditional artists to recognize their artistic excellence and to support their continuing contribution to America’s traditional arts heritage.

He has also danced at the White House before former President Bill Clinton, among other dignitaries.

Golden said he learned how to perform the intricate moves of the Irish Step Dance at the Irish American Center on Willis Avenue. “It takes a little bit of practice,” he said with a wry sense of humor.

Many of Golden’s past and present students came to the ceremony Sunday night to honor him.

“We are very proud to have him as our Grand Marshal,” society president McLoughlin said.

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