Strutting
to a Catholic tune
By Lou Baldwin
Special to The CS&T
When the annual pre-New Year’s Mummer’s Parade Mass was celebrated
at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church on the evening of Dec. 31, Edward J.
(Ed) McBride was reader.
It was only fitting. McBride, 70, has been an active member of the parish
since 1959 has been connected with the Mummers just about as long.
As with many die-hard Mummers he started with the comics, in his case
strutting with Hammond, but switched to the string bands. He is now with
Quaker City, where he is the financial secretary.
South Philly-born and bred, McBride attended St. Aloysius School, which
was a German Parish school. He received special permission to attend there,
in spite of his Irish heritage, because his dad was away at war and his
mom was a war worker and couldn’t take him to the family’s
more distant territorial parish school.
The Sisters of Christian Charity were the teachers at St. Aloysius, and
all the students went to Mass every school day, which McBride believes
was great training for life. That training was further reinforced by the
Norbertine Fathers at what was then Southeast Catholic (now SS. John Neumann
and Maria Goretti) High School.
McBride met Eleanor Cassidy, a girl from the neighborhood, when he was
10. They became good friends, then boyfriend and girlfriend. After his
military service, they married, and next year they will celebrate their
golden wedding anniversary. They are the parents of three sons, Ed Jr.,
Daniel and Gregory.
Most of his working life, McBride was in the printing business, but now
he’s the public relations and marketing coordinator for Local 98,
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. It doesn’t matter
that he’s not an electrician — his organizational skills are
important.
McBride can play the banjo, but not up to the demanding standards of Quaker
City, one of the perennial contenders for a top prize in the big parade.
He is content to be one of those people whose task is to help pull everything
together. This year, he served as a “starter,” preceding the
marchers up Broad Street, making certain they kept a disciplined pace,
so as not to lose crucial judging points.
McBride has been president of the Edward O’Malley Athletic Association
since 1970; he’s a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and
is vice president and immediate past president of the Millay Club, the
alumni association of St. John Neumann. He’s also a retreat recruiter
for the Men of Malvern.
At Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, McBride is an active member of the
Holy Name Society, and a former member of both the parish finance council
and the parish pastoral council. He was also parish chairman for the Catholic
Life 2000 campaign. In short, he’s one of those “go to”
parishioners that every0 parish depends upon.
“I like to think religion guides the way I act,” McBride said.
“I tell this to my kids. … I think everything goes back to
the training we received as children.”
Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo parish and a freelance writer.