Wednesday, October 1, 2014
President's Message October 2014
PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE
 |
| Division One President Kevin Ellis |
October 2014
Brothers,
The month of September had a lot of
developments concerning the Irish Community in the New York area, there will be much to
discuss in the weeks and months ahead of us.
First, let’s have a short rundown of some events that happened.
I would like to welcome George McShane,
Michael Maher, and James Hamill who were sworn in as Hibernians at our Division
Meeting on September 3rd. Welcome Brothers! Our membership has now
grown to over 100 members! Let’s keep it
going!
I
would also remind all members who still have outstanding membership dues for
2014 to please get these paid up this month.
It is essential that we have all of our members in good standing to make
our Division even more successful going forward.
In September, the rain cut short the Annual
McLean Avenue Fall Festival, but we did get in several hours of meeting and
greeting people along the Emerald Mile.
Let’s pray for better weather next year.
I attended The 6th Annual Hudson Valley Irish Fest in Peekskill and the event seems to be getting
bigger and bigger each year. Congrats to
our brothers in Division 18 Peekskill for putting together another tremendously
successful festival! I attended the AOH
Westchester County Board meeting in Tarrytown and I am happy to report that
Paul Clarke is recovering from his serious leg injuries. He still has several more weeks before he up
is and about, but it appears that he is on the road to a full recovery. AOH National Immigration Chairman and member
of Division 18 Peekskill Dan Dennehy has been selected to serve as The
Westchester County Aide to The Grand Marshal for the 254th Annual
New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade, an honor that is very well
deserved. Dan is one of the hardest
working AOH members in the entire country, and we extend our congratulations to
him and his family.
As we look forward toward October, the
first weekend will be a very busy one.
The Aisling Irish Community Center will hold its Annual Dinner Dance
on Friday, October 3rd. I am
proud that our members will be present to present our annual donation of
support to the center. Sunday, October 5th
is an all day event. It is Respect
Life Sunday in the NY Archdiocese, and the Annual Respect Life
Mass will host AOH members form around the entire metro NY area. We will have a bus to transport members to
and from St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Sunday morning. The mass will be followed by a buffet
breakfast hosted by The AOH New York County Board. The bus will then return us to Dunwoodie Golf
Course to attend the American Irish Association’s 40th
Anniversary Dinner Dance, where Division 1 Yonkers will be honored for
our Charities and Missions work. Sign up
sheets will be available at our membership meeting for both the Mass and The Dinner.
At this date, we are still attempting to
put together the final details of The Sean Tallon Memorial Football Tournament
for 2015. I will hopefully have more
details within a week or so.
Finally, we are well aware of last month’s
developments concerning the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade. I think I would be understating it when I say
we were surprised by the announcement that changes were made to allow LGBT
marching groups to participate next year.
There seemed to be a lot of confusion on the part of the committee
concerning the particulars involving both the decision itself and the process
by which the decision was made. The
announcement was accompanied by many conflicting statements being made by
different committee members, and this only added to the uncertainty surrounding
the future of the parade itself.
Since the formation of the separate parade
committee, The Ancient Order of Hibernians has no direct control of the NYC St.
Patrick’s Day Parade. However, the AOH
is still heavily invested in the parade, and I believe our support and
participation is now more important than ever. It is my personal belief that the AOH and its
members must continue to serve as the shining example when it comes to the true
meaning and message of St. Patrick’s Day.
I attended the parade delegates meeting on September 29th, and will have a full report on some late developing details that have come to light concerning the NYC Parade at our general membership meeting.
I attended the parade delegates meeting on September 29th, and will have a full report on some late developing details that have come to light concerning the NYC Parade at our general membership meeting.
Yours in
Our Motto,
Kevin
Ellis, President
Division
One, Yonkers
