When the 18th Annual Carbon County St. Patrick's Day Parade steps off at 1 p.m. March 15, in Jim Thorpe, Grand Marshal Gary Dobias will have two aides representing the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Alec Campbell Division 1, Carbon County, and the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, Mollie Maguire Division 1, Carbon County, who will join him as guests of honor for the event.

Selected by their respective organizations, they are Mary (Dugan) Figura and Robert G. McMenemon.Figura is the former Mary Dugan, daughter of Hugh and Margaret Dugan of Jim Thorpe. She has three siblings, Colleen Weber, Katie McArdle and Hugh Dugan II.She attended Immaculate Conception School and St. Joseph RegionalAcademy in Jim Thorpe and graduated in 1986 from Marian High School.She has over 20 years of experience in teaching and administration. In 1990, she graduated from Bloomsburg University with a bachelor of science in elementary education/special education. She has a master of education degree in elementary education with reading specialist certification from KutztownUniversity. In 1997, she received elementary principal certification from Penn State University. She also obtained a master's certificate in human resources and organizational effectiveness from Villanova University in 2012 and a superintendent's letter of eligibility from Temple University. She is currently enrolled at Lehigh University to complete her doctoral work.Figura is employed in the Panther Valley Area School District as the K-5 elementary principal and the ESL coordinator for the district. She assists HLS Educational Consulting from Bensalem, with educational research on school-specific topics for low-performing schools.Proud of her Irish heritage, she was one of the first members of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians in Jim Thorpe and served as its past historian. For many years, she organized the LAOH essay contest for students in grades three through eight. As part of a sponsored activity in 2001, she traveled to Ireland with several members and friends of the LAOH.She attends Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Jim Thorpe.She lives in JimThorpe with her husband, Dave Figura, and her two daughters, Leah andAnna.McMenemon was born in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, and attended Holy Innocents Grammar School there.He was a tractor-trailer driver for 37 years before retiring in 2013. For 25 of those years, he drove for New England Motor Freight, Mahoning Township.He and his wife, Lynn, and their two dogs,Seamus and Stanley, live in Penn Forest Township.McMenemon's favorite activities includeswimming at the Y inHazleton, beer-making and playing the ponies.