St. Paddy's Parade Queen and Royal Court Named

The Friends of St. Patrick recently announced that Megan Dwyer of Mt. Sinai is the Queen of the 62nd Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. She will be escorted down Route 25A on March 11 by her Ladies of the Royal Court; Carissa Cantone of Shoreham and Tara Kathleen McKnight of Mt. Sinai.

In her time at Mt. Sinai High School, Dwyer was a captain of the cross country and winter and spring track teams. She was also a member of the National Honor Society, played flute in the orchestra and band and was also voted the Prom Queen and Homecoming Queen, all while making the honor roll every semester and graduated in the top five percent of her class.

Now a junior at Stony Brook University, she is in the top seven percent of her class while studying psychology and journalism. She has continued with music as the section leader of the band’s flute section and a piccolo player in the Spirit of Stony Brook Marching Band. 

Lady in Waiting Cantone has never missed a parade. She teamed up with a close friend to create stickers for the children at the parade and is donating the funds to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

After graduating Cantone joined the Air Force Reserve. She serves at the 106th Rescue Wing based in Westhampton Beach as a munitions expert. She is in the process of applying to be a Protection Specialist in New York City.

Lady in Waiting McKnight is not only deep rooted in Mt. Sinai but has roots in Ireland, as her father emigrated from there as a young child. She has visited there many times over the years and stays at a family owned house while traveling abroad. She has participated in the parade as a student at the , where she now teaches.

She is now a junior at St. Joseph College where she double majors in Child Study and Speech Communications. She is deeply involved in volunteer work at school and also brought her charity work home, assisting at the food pantry at in Sound Beach.

The crowing will be held at the annual Cocktail Party on Feb. 26 at The Inn at East Wind in Wading River at 4p.m.