It Was Smooth Sailing For Parade Parade Marshal ``sevy'' Verna Is In The Funeral Business. A Procession Is Something He Knows About.

From his perch inside the chauffeured golf cart, Cavalier Severino ``Sevy'' Verna Jr. scowled. The crowd at Broad and Snyder was a bit thinner than he'd like, but what do you expect at 12:30 p.m. on a Sunday?

``It's gravy time. They're still stirring the macaroni,'' he explained, a 67-year-old Italian American with a hungry belly of his own. ``They wouldn't care if Christopher Columbus himself came marching down the street. It's time to eat.''

By 1 p.m., as Verna predicted, a healthy horde was waiting, balloons and silly string in hand, at Marconi Plaza at Broad Street and Oregon Avenue, the center of attractions for the annual Columbus Day parade.

It wasn't just a lucky guess: For 42 years, Verna has been the parade's marshal. He's the guy who kisses the Common Pleas Court judges on the cheeks, then sends them walking and waving. He's part cheerleader, part hand-holder, part coach. He's got a whistle, and isn't afraid to use it.

Though parade-goers may never see him, Verna presides over a ritual that reaches deep into the soul of South Philadelphians. Sure, Columbus never came anywhere near Pat's, never saw a Flyers game. Whether he really discovered anything seems irrelevant on parade day.

The guy was Italian. Enough said.

``It's about honor, glory,'' said Verna, who runs Severino Verna Funeral Home and is married to City Councilwoman Anna Verna. ``Christopher Columbus found this great nation. We want to keep his memory alive.''

For Severino Verna, parade day is a spectacle six months in the making. ``Even in May,'' said his wife of 47 years, ``he's thinking about Columbus Day.''

Sevy Verna's parents came from Abruzzi, Italy, in the early 1900s. He was raised to revere Columbus. When he was 16, his father took him to an Order Sons of Italy in America lodge. He got into the funeral business soon after; parading came naturally.

``When you line up a funeral procession, everything has to be in order. So does a parade.''