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First Posted: 3/7/2014 PITTSTON &#8211; He&#8217;s often boasted about his Irish Catholic heritage and talked about his &#8220;Grandpa Finnegan.&#8221; His Secret Service nickname even has an Irish connection: Celtic.
And now Vice President Joe Biden will be the featured speaker at the 100th anniversary celebration of the Greater Pittston Area Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Banquet on March 17.
His wife, Jill Biden, will attend a cocktail party of the Society of Irish Women in Scranton, said Evie Rafalko McNulty, a founding member of the society and Mistress of Ceremonies.
Patrick Bilbow, a past president in the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons and this year&#8217;s toastmaster, called Biden&#8217;s appearance &#8220;monumental.&#8221;
&#8220;If you look in our program book, the past principal speakers is an impressive list of guys,&#8221; Bilbow said. &#8220;To get the sitting vice president of the United States, that&#8217;s a very big deal.&#8221;
He said past speakers included President Harry Truman, U.S. Sen. and former Vice President Hubert Humphrey, TV newsman Tim Russert and political commentator Paul Begala. At the 50th anniversary, U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy spoke just months after his brother, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated.
Founded in 1914, the Friendly Sons foster the Irish Heritage of the area and promote education of local Irish-American youth. The group awards college scholarships to high school seniors in the area and is comprised of men of Irish heritage from Northeast Pennsylvania.
Ed Hart, the current president of the Greater Pittston Friendly Sons, said he&#8217;s been working on getting Joe Biden since he took office on March 17, 2013.
&#8220;Biden was always number one on my list,&#8221; he said. &#8220;For our 100th anniversary, we wanted to make this really special and we wanted someone with local ties that can appreciate our Irish heritage.&#8221;
Biden has made six stops in Northeast Pennsylvania since he ran for vice president in 2008, including two in Greater Pittston. He made stop at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Pittston Township to campaign for Arlen Specter and a stop in Duryea to tour the aftermath of the 2011 flooding.
Bilbow said Biden, a native of Scranton, has a natural connection with the region.
&#8220;With his upbringing and his background, he understands the landscape of this area,&#8221; Bilbow said. &#8220;When people talk about him, they talk about him like they know him. That&#8217;s his personality. There&#8217;s a regular guy quality about him. He&#8217;s the vice president, but he&#8217;s someone you&#8217;d want to sit down and have a beer with.&#8221;

Biden to speak at Greater Pittston Friendly Sons banquet