As the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick of Lackawanna County prepare to celebrate their annual dinner at the Scranton Cultural Center for a third consecutive year, Michael Brown described the facility as a “perfect fit.”
The 120th dinner will be held Friday at 7 p.m.
The dinner had been held in downtown Scranton into the early 1980s, first at the Hotel Jermyn, then at the Hotel Casey and finally at St. Mary’s Center. The dinner was held at Genetti Manor in Dickson City from 1984 until 2022. After the banquet hall closed in June 2022, organizers held the dinner outside Lackawanna County for the first time, at Mohegan Pennsylvania in Plains Twp. in 2023.
“It’s great to be in downtown Scranton, the venue is great, everything has been perfect,” said Brown, the organization’s current president.
Brown, owner of Andrew Brown’s Drug Store and Home Health Care Center on Pittston Avenue in Scranton, graduated from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1983 and returned home to assist his father, Robert, in the family-owned business.
U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-2, whose district includes parts of Philadelphia and extends into areas of Montgomery County, will serve as the principal speaker.
Boyle, 49, who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014, serves on the House Budget Committee and Ways and Means Committee.
Born in Philadelphia, the son of an Irish immigrant, Boyle graduated from the University of Notre Dame and earned a Master’s Degree in public policy from Harvard University.
Boyle visited the region in December to participate in a town hall event centered on concerns about President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
“He was highly recommended by several past presidents and he’s been in the news a lot lately,” Brown said.
The dinner has featured many high-profile speakers over the years, including presidents, vice presidents, members of Congress, governors, leaders of Ireland, military leaders, church leaders and celebrities.
Scranton police Detective Kyle Gilmartin — who was shot twice in the head by an assailant at point-blank range, and survived, in January 2024 — will receive the President’s Award, Brown said.
The Rev. Patrick Rogers, S.J., who served at Scranton Preparatory School and the University of Scranton before taking the role of vice president for mission integration at Le Moyne College in New York, was selected as the clerical speaker.
Michael Brown’s brother, Andrew A. Brown, DMD, will serve as toastmaster.
During Friday’s dinner, Michael Brown will pass the president’s pin to Harry Nealon Jr., who will serve as president for next year’s event.
Michael Brown noted Nealon will continue a storied family legacy when he assumes the role of president for the organization.
“His grandfather and father were both past presidents, and his grandfather was the president for one of the most famous speeches in the history of the Friendly Sons, when Bobby Kennedy spoke at the Hotel Casey in 1964 — his first public appearance after President (John F.) Kennedy was shot,” Brown said.