Hundreds Honor Lord Mayor Gormley: "He's Done So Much, For So Many, So Quietly"

Two teen girls, noticing the film crew walking down Centre Street, asked what was going on. When told it was for the Unofficial Mayor of West Roxbury, one of them replied, "Oh yeah. We know about that."

Seemingly everyone in the neighborhood took part Friday in what one observer called "an event unlike any other in the history of West Roxbury" — the inauguration of Lord Mayor Richie Gormley.

Hundreds lined the parade route as Gormley, accompanied by fire trucks, Boston Police cars, Gaelic pipes and a basketball-court sized U.S. flag, made his way from his to the .

"He absolutely deserves it," said Kelly Kane, who screamed in delight as Gormley walked past the , doffing former Boston Mayor James Michael Curley's top hat. "Everyone loves him in the community."

The Kelly family went as far as making "Lord Mayor Richie Gormley" T shirts, which they proudly showed off as they cheered the Inauguration Parade.

The crowd filed in to the Irish Social Club, packing the 650-person capacity hall for an evening of fundraising, dancing and socializing.

Patch hosted the event, with lots of help from the Club. After all, the whole thing started Feb. 13 when West Roxbury Patch posted a poll asking who is the unofficial mayor of West Roxbury?

"We're happy to throw this party and proud to serve our community," said co-emcee Pat Purcell, Patch's advertising director for the Northeast.

It was nominee 's idea to turn the whole thing into a fundraiser for West Roxbury charities. All door proceeds and auction items went to nominees' charities of choice.

Of course, no major West Roxbury event is going to go undetected by politicians. They were out in force.

The headliners were U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., who gave Gormley an autographed Scott Brown 2012 baseball bat, and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, who swore in Gormley.

Menino, who attended the event despite being on crutches from a recent broken toe, joked with the honoree onstage, reminding the Unofficial Mayor not to get any big ideas and to "leave the politics to the professionals."

But Menino also gave a heartfelt compliment to Gormley.

"He's done so much, for so many, so quietly," Menino said. "This will be the first time his name is in the newspapers."

Other pols on hand included state Sen. Mike Rush, D-West Roxbury; Sen. Thomas Kennedy, D-Brockton; state Rep. Ed Coppinger, D-West Roxbury; state Rep. Paul McMurtry, D-Dedham; Michael Lonergan, Consulate General of Ireland in Boston; Boston City Council President Stephen Murphy, Boston City Councilors Matt O’Malley, John Connolly, Felix Arroyo, Tito Jackson, Sal LaMattina, and Rob Consalvo. Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley also attended, as did Suffolk County Court Clerk Maura Hennigan.

Those who made made presentations and spoke briefly included: Maura Hennigan, Suffolk County Clerk of Court; Robert Nolan, President, Roscommon Healthcare; Brigid Boyle, Ethos Development Director; Sergeant Tom Creavin, Emerald Society of the Boston Police Department; Father Dermot Roache, SMA Fathers in Dedham, who offered the invocation, and Alan MacKinnon, Gardens at Gethsemane Cemetery.  

The suggested donation of $10 at the door went to nominees charities of choice:

• :  Juvenile Diabetes Field of Dreams and 
• :  and 
• : ,
• : Sagoff Breast Imaging and Diagnostic Center at the Faulkner Hospital and l
• : West Roxbury YMCA Reach Out and AgeWell West Roxbury
• : , , American Arabic Benevolent Association
• :  and ,
• Stephen Smith:
• Write-in candidate : Catholic Memorial and St. Theresa CYO.

A separate 50/50 raffle was also held, which raised $700 for Catholic Memorial and other local charities. The winner of the $700 cash was an ecstatic Pat O'Neill, who said she'd never won anything in her life.

We've gathered all the related articles on the West Roxbury Patch’s Official Page for the Unofficial Mayor of West Roxbury.