The Greater New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Executive Committee will confer the title of Grand Marshal for the 2012 St. Patrick's Day Parade on Kevin A. Smith at their March 3 Parade Ball at the Yale Commons.  Tickets for this special evening can be purchased from the Ball Chairman, Anne Hines at 203-488-4902.

Smith will lead the 56th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New Haven on Sunday, March 11 by cutting a green ribbon to start participants on the parade’s traditional route from Sherman Avenue down Chapel Street to Church Street, ending at Orange and Grove Streets. The parade starts at a new time this year, 1:30 p.m., and is the sixth oldest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the nation.

It also boasts of being Connecticut's largest single day spectator event. The day begins with a 10 a.m. Mass in the historic St. Mary’s R.C. Church on Hillhouse Avenue where officers, past grand marshals, and Parade Committee members/supporters march in to the sound of bagpipes and colorful honor guard provided by the Knights of Columbus, 4th Degree.

Born in Brooklyn New York, the son of the late Herbert & Diane (Hansen) Smith, his family relocated to New Haven in the early 1970’s where he grew up in the city’s East Rock neighborhood. During his childhood and into adulthood, he attended New Haven area schools including the former St. Stanislaus Parochial School on State Street, Wilbur Cross High School and Albertus Magnus College where he earned a degree in Business Administration.

At the young age of 14, Smith began working at the local family owned corner variety store on the corners of Pearl and Orange Street until turning 16 when he began his long career working for Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. Through the years, he began to take on roles of increasing responsibility within the company which brought him all over Connecticut, Long Island and New Jersey. Currently he is a Store Manager for the Stop & Shop location in New Rochelle, New York.

Smith has long been active in his community having served as President of the St. Stanislaus Church Holy Name Society and served on the Parochial School Board at the time the school merged with another city parochial school – St. Michael’s. He re-organized the Catholic Youth Organization.  In August of 1993, Smith led a group of young adults to the International World Youth Day in Denver Colorado instituted by Pope John Paul II.  More recently, Smith served two terms as President of the Knights of St. Patrick in New Haven from 2006 – 2008.  He joined the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee in 2002 and has held the offices of Chief of Staff, Parade Secretary, and in 2011 was the Parade Chairman. 

Smith resides in Hamden, CT and is father to three children:  Tyler “TJ” (10), Abigail Rose (7) and Nathan Alexander (5).