I wish you and your families a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year. Our next meeting will be held on Friday, December 18th. Welcome aboard to new members Pete Blickley, Brian Kirrane, Brendan McLaughlin, and John Kennedy, Jr.
Congratulations to all the Division officers who were re-elected and welcome aboard to our new Vice President, Chuck Parnow. I have been blessed for many years to work with our out going VP, Vince Tyer, and will miss him sitting next to me. I pray that I can continue to avail myself of his wise counsel and many, many thanks are due to him as well as congratulations and best wishes on his recent election as Rockland County Legislator. Congratulations are also due to the following on their recently bestowed Rockland County Parade honors: Tom Lynch as Battalion Commander, Ed O’Dea as Aide to Grand Marshal, Neil Cosgrove as Hibernian of the Year, and Kevin Donohue as Aide to Grand Marshal in the NYC Parade. Well deserved! Many thanks go out to Jack O’Connor, Larry DeGenarro, and Dan Callanan for running a very successful Senior Citizen Luncheon as well as to the numerous volunteers who helped out.
Despite desperate attempts to stop them, members of the Affiliated Organizations unanimously nominated and elected the officers of the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Celebration Committee on November 30th. Hopefully the Board of Directors will now work with our representatives to ensure our NYC parade remains the greatest and most dignified parade in the world. Many thanks to all of you who supported the Concerned Members of the Affiliated Organizations that struggled so hard to keep democracy in the parade and
especially to my committee co-members from Rockland County, Neil Cosgrove and Jim Russell.
Dan Callanan reports the following Good and Welfare News…Please say a prayer for the repose of the souls of Big Jim Morrison, John Keahon’s mom Rita, John Crilley’s brother Neil. A few good wishes are in order for Bob Howe whose hip problems were diagnosed as due to arthritis and bursitis, Mark Donnelly who had a couple of minor strokes,
is under medication and his niece is lending a hand, Jim Doherty will be undergoing dialysis three times a week for the foreseeable future, the same is true for Mike Smith. Your prayers and good wishes worked well for Danny O’Keefe whose most recent tests showed he is cancer free. Denis Troy is making great progress recovering from his injuries. Congratulations are in order for John Callanan whose son Daniel came first in the under 11 boys Irish Step Dancing, Merrick Rhodes’ daughter Ciara who came second in the under 17 girls and Mike Hieb’s daughter Erin who came fourteenth in the under 11 girls in the Mid Atlantic Oireachtas competition in Philadelphia and are all off to the world competition. Well done and best wishes as they head off for World Championships in Glasgow.
As always, please remember to say an extra prayer or two for our wounded warriors and their families.
Yours in Friendship, Unity & Christian Charity,
Dermot O’Connor Moore, President.