It is with great pride that I report you were all represented in honoring and celebrating our National Chaplain Fr. Thomas O’Donnell’s 50th Anniversary of his Ordination as a priest. I traveled to Pittsburgh, PA for a special Mass celebrated by Fr. Tom and a testimonial dinner in his honor. Fr. Tom has given fifty years of his life to our Church and it was only fitting for the Hibernians to have such a significant part in his celebration.

We are all aware of the fact that this last year has been designated as the Year of the Priest by our Holy Father Pope Benedict. As the year comes to an end I strongly encourage each of our jurisdictions to plan an event to support our priests. Whether that means a major event involving entire parishes or something as simple as a picnic/BBQ run by your Division with your Chaplain and perhaps the priests of the local parish or even something as simple as taking them out for breakfast, that is up to you, but just do it! Honor and thank these fine gentlemen for their service and dedication to Holy Mother Church. Please don’t miss this opportunity, and what you do plan, please notify our State Catholic Action Chairman Dan Case of your plans on behalf of our priests.

We were once again very happy with the recent turnout at our Annual Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Knock Shrine in East Durham. The weekend began with the Annual Jim Hayes Memorial Golf Outing held on Fri., 4/30 at Sunnyhill Golf Course; followed by a delicious banquet at the Blackthorn Resort. This event is the primary fundraiser for the Austin V. Carew Scholarship Fund, and I sincerely thank all of the jurisdictions of our Order who supported this event with hole sponsorships, and I thank all the individual golfers who attended and supported the fundraising effort by their presence. Congratulations and thanks to Tommy Thompson for his efforts in planning a great event. We look forward to an even bigger event next year.

On Saturday morning, 5/1 we had our semiannual State Board meeting with a record turnout. It was the largest attendance of Brothers that any of us could remember for a good number of years and our State Secretary’s attendance sheets reflected such. The meeting was held once again in the Shamrock House. (I am pleased to report that it is “business as usual” at the Shamrock House which is now owned by a local couple who also own Lawyers Country Store, John and Sue Quirk.) As the Officers and Delegates headed back to their local jurisdictions renewed from our experiences during that weekend in East Durham, one of the messages I asked you to carry is the importance of attending the upcoming National Convention in Cincinnati this July. Once again we have a daunting task ahead of us; we will be working together to have three of our favorite New York sons elected to the National Board. Our National Vice President Brendan Moore has announced he is seeking reelection to the post of V.P. Our National Secretary Tom McNabb has also once again announced he is seeking reelection. And our Immediate Past State President Matt Nelligan has announced he is a candidate for National Director. We will need all of our delegates in attendance and I ask each of you to encourage your members to attend.

County and Division Presidents should check in with your State Officers upon arriving at the National Convention. Our State Sec. Jim Burke will be issuing the credentials for N.Y. State and will be coordinating the delegation. We need to know as early in the Convention as possible how many members we have attending so as to provide for them to be selected as alternate delegates for any jurisdictions needing them.

We intend to continue our sense of fiscal responsibility toward financing our charitable donations to the various Hibernian Charities. Towards that goal we will be sponsoring a ½ Way To St. Patrick’s Day Raffle Month. It will be a “pick your own number” and will be the daily evening 3 digit Lotto number for every day in the month of September. The ticket will cost $5 each and the prize will be $50 each day in the month of September with Labor Day and 9/17 prizes being $100. The tickets will be available through your State Directors and each of you are asked to sell as many of these tickets as possible. All of the proceeds from this raffle will be used to primarily fund our support of Project St. Patrick and other Hibernian charities.

We are still searching for local groups who have facilities to host fundraisers on behalf of the State Board. Please contact your District Directors if you are able to assist us in hosting any type of a fundraising endeavor.
I would like to take this opportunity to once again congratulation and thank all of our local jurisdictions that either participated or in some way sponsored a celebration commemorating our patron, St. Patrick. The most popular were perhaps Parades, as I participated in a number of them. The State Board as a group marched in the N.Y. City Parade up Fifth Ave. This year a number of members accepted my invitation to march with the Board. We even had a bus load of members from Saratoga & Albany travel south to participate. Why not make plans with your local groups to make the trip next March and join the Board in the N.Y. City Parade?

Please continue to keep your District Directors fully aware of all activities and endeavors. We have a great group of Brothers serving as our Directors and they can only be of service if you keep in touch with them. If for any reason you cannot get in touch with him please feel free to contact me immediately. Also, remember to keep those invitations coming. I know I’ve turned down a few, but that’s not to my liking. I would very much like to be able to be at them all, but I assure you that I will make as many as possible.

I extend to all Brothers best wishes for a very happy Fathers Day! “May you enjoy a day of peace, relaxation and comfort” as you enjoy the company of your children and families. Have a very pleasant summer and I look forward to working with all of you as well as participating in as many of your events as I possibly can. “Keep those invitations coming”.

1 / 2 Way To St. Patrick’s Day Raffle Month

In an effort to raise funds for our donation to Project St. Patrick and other Hibernian charities the State Board will be sponsoring a ‘pick your own” daily number game during the month of September. You will write “your own” number on a raffle ticket and for a $5 donation you have the opportunity of matching the evening three digit number drawn by the N.Y. State Lottery. If they draw your number you will win $50 for that day. If your number is drawn on Labor Day (9/6/10) or on 9/17/10 you will win $100. Just $5 for 30(= 30 days in September) chances to win.

Tickets should be returned to John Hennessy, Calendar Chairman (by the way there are still calendars left if you’re interested) at P.O. Box 37, Deer Park, NY 11729. Checks should be made payable to N.Y. State Board AOH.

Please make every effort to support this endeavor. “Come on, it’s an easy sell, $5…..try to sell them 2 tickets, that’s even any easy sell, $10 for 2 x 30 chances to win??” All jurisdictions with halls are particularly asked to support this as you have a venue to sell them . Those without halls you can still get your guys who are sellers to hawk them in their travels.