Kings Park Diner Leads Community Celebration

Owner aids in St. Pat’s Parade and other events 

By Chad Kushins

Photo by John Gallagher, courtesy of the Kings Park St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee.In Kings Park, the month of March now brings a special and unique celebration to mark the beginning of spring – the town’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.  An event that finds residents and visitors alike lining the streets to march and become “honorary Irish,” the parade is a true community effort.  For the past two years, however, very few would argue the fact that the efforts and leadership of one local business-owner has made a world of difference. 

Named The Times of Smithtown’s Business Man of the Year for his community work in 2010, Kevin Denis is the well-known owner of Kings Park’s Professor’s Diner.  Since taking over the popular Main Street eatery in 1991, Denis has been a vocal advocate for all-things Kings Park and its calendar of special events and celebrations.  Come March, however, Denis assumes his unofficial role as a leading force in making the town’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade one of the largest and best-known community gatherings of its kind.

“This is a wonderful community in Kings Park,” Denis told Smithtown Matters.  “Everyone is very supportive with what we’re doing and they love [the parade].”