Sunday's Columbus Day parade will be the last year Tom Menino is part of the event as mayor. The guest of honor at the cocktail reception kicking off Columbus Day weekend in the North End, the irrepressible Thomas M. Menino, is the center of adulation, as he has been for two decades, on Friday night, where he received an award from the Columbus Day committee.

For this longtime fixture at the Columbus Day parade, which started back in Boston in 1946, this weekend may not be as much about his legacy as developing downtown or curbing neighborhood blight, but it has played a central character building role in the city. "Twenty years mayor, first Italian-American Mayor, very proud of that, very proud of this community that has made such a difference in the city of Boston," Mayor Menino said.

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Source: http://www.necn.com/