Highlights included a vote to hold our business meetings on the second Tuesday of each month through the end of June, beginning with Tuesday, March 9.
This document summarizes the monthly meeting of the Father Kelley Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians held on video via Zoom and in person at the George Brent Council of the Knights of Columbus in Manassas.
Meeting was called to order at 7:35p.m. by the Division President Tom Masarick
Recitation of the opening prayer & Pledge of Allegiance:
Our Father x
Hail Mary x
St. Michael the Archangel x
Glory Be x
Pledge of Allegiance x
Roll call of Officers for Fraternal Year 2021:
Position Name Present/Absent/Excused
President Tom Masarick P
Vice President Patrick Sullivan P
Chaplain Fr. Ed Guilloux E
Recording Secretary Brian Tumulty P
Financial Secretary Richard Aleksy P
Treasurer Richard Ring P
Standing Committee Pete Hawkins P
Marshall Mike Curry P
Sentinel Dan O’Leary E
Immed. Past President John Masarick P
Introduction on new candidates:
Michael O’Hara of Bristow is an Army veteran who speaks Irish, attends All Saints Church and is a member of the Knights of Columbus.
Christopher Sozio is the second candidate.
They were both unanimously accepted.
Reading of minutes from previous meeting: Minutes from the December and January meetings were published on the division website and emailed to members.
Reading of communications and correspondence: none
Presidents Report by Tom Masarick:
- Welcome to our new temporary meeting space – the Bishop Russel Hall of the Knights of Columbus. We are trying this out this month to give us more room, to follow Covid-19 guidelines and to setup our meetings in accordance with AOH State and National’s direction. If we like it these spaces, we can reserve them going forward on the 2nd Tuesday of every month.
- Fr. Kelley Division Accomplishment and challenges: a. I am very pleased of the Road Clean-up Jan. 23rd. see Webpage for group picture. Thank you, Rick Ring, for organizing this event.
- b. I know this is a group that likes to celebrate our history, song, food and ancestry; however, there is also a need for certain fund raisers. We need everyone’s help to sell the raffle tickets for the trip to Ireland. Our sales to date is less than 50%. March 17th will be here soon.
- c. AOH Fish Fry is scheduled for March 12th (Friday) we will be the cooks – food will be purchase in advance and delivered at pickup on the night of the event. This is a joint Council/AOH effort.
- d. New Members – I welcome our new perspective members and ask everyone to help bring in new members so we can grow and learn.
3. St. Patrick (Brief Bio)
St Patrick is buried in Downpatrick, close to the site of his very first church at Saul and is buried alongside Ireland’s other patron saints, Brigid and Columba in accordance with an ancient legend, that the three saints would be laid to rest together.
There are over 300 saints directly associated with the island, so it is no wonder Ireland earned the title of “the land of saints and scholars.”
St. Patrick, (flourished 5th century, Britain and Ireland; feast day March 17), patron saint and national apostle of Ireland, credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland and probably responsible in part for the Christianization of the Picts and Anglo-Saxons. He is known only from two short works, the Confessio, a spiritual autobiography, and his Letter to Coroticus, a denunciation of British mistreatment of Irish Christians.
There are many legends associated with the life of St. Patrick. According to one, he miraculously drove all the snakes of Ireland into the sea. He is said to have used the three leaflets of the shamrock to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity. He reportedly raised as many as 33 people from the dead.
Chaplain’s Report: No report
Report of the committee on the sick: Pete Hawkins sent cards to Joe Cahill ad his wife Sandy. Tom talked to Sandy Cahill last night. Pete said a card is going out for Kevin Byrne regarding the death of his mother. A card also will be sent to Vince regarding his knee surgery.
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Report on the Standing Committee: No Report
Events/ calendar: report by Pete Hawkins:
March 6 and 7 the trip to Ireland raffle ticket sales will continue. Please contact JP McCusker to sign up to assist at church. We really need to sell the tickets.
March 7 (a Sunday) is bingo kitchen with team number two.
March 11 is a state quarterly meeting on Zoom.
March 12 is the Friday Fish Fry that our division is co-hosting with the Knights of Columbus. Our division will run the kitchen.
March 13 is the Saturday set for the Manassas St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Patrick said the city has been asked to give the parade organizers a go/no go by Feb. 22.
March 15 (a Monday night at 7:30) is the Gaelic Mass at St. Thomas More Cathedral in Arlington, according to Jay McCarthy.
March 17 will be the Trip to Ireland raffle drawing at the Old Towne Sports Pub.
In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day has been canceled, according to Dominic.
April 23 and 24 may be the church Spring Festival.
Bills and Claims: Financial Secretary — Rich Aleksy
Road cleanup payable to Richard Ring —– $21.27
Wells Fargo Bank for new checks ———— $35.89
Virginia State AOH for liability insurance — $129.60
Receipts of the Meeting (Income):
Financial Secretary — Rich Aleksy
Initiation fees ——————– $20.
Dues ——————————$216.
Bingo kitchen —————— $100.
5050 raffle ———————– $12.
Trip to Ireland raffle——— $1750.
Total of $2,098.
Report of the Treasurer: Richard Ring
Starting balance for January 2021 = $13,961
January 2021 Deposits (income) = $2,350
January 2021 expense = $1,034
Ending monthly balance for January 2021 = $15,277
Uncashed checks none
Bank register is reconciled.
Updated Feb. 01, 2021
Bylaws: Rich Aleksy
We have delayed and will try to meet next Tuesday.
Freedom for All Ireland: Dominic Preston
You can now apply for citizenship based on a great grandparent.
Rugby is a big thing in Ireland. It’s the only time where the whole of Ireland is one team. In the Soccer World, or football as we call it in Ireland, Northern Ireland has one team, and the Republic of Ireland has another team.
But in rugby, all of Ireland is one team. And they play against Scotland, Wales, England, France, and Italy. Last weekend, Ireland was playing Wales. Unfortunately, they lost, which is unfortunate. But anyway, they’re a good strong team. The next time Ireland will be playing will be in Dublin, the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland against France. It will be broadcast on Peacock on Feb. 14 at 10 pm our time. (Update: Ireland lost 13-15).
Ireland is due to receive $1 billion in reparation for the UK’s departure from the European Union.
A new visitor to Ireland is required to spend 14 days quarantine in their room in the hotel with meals brought up to you. You’re not allowed out of the room for 14 days.
There are guarded checkpoints at the border of each county because of COVID restrictions.
Immigration: Rick Ring
This month I’m going to cover Thomas Francis Meagher. One of our members is currently reading a book titled, “The Immortal Irishman” by Timothy Egan.
Meagher was an Irish nationalist and leader of the Young Irelanders in the Rebellion of 1848. After being convicted of sedition, he was first sentenced to death, but received transportation for life to Tasmania in Australia. In 1852, Meagher escaped and made his way to the United States, where he settled in New York City. He studied law, worked as a journalist, and traveled to present lectures on the Irish cause. He married for a second time in New York. At the beginning of the Civil War, Meagher joined the U.S. Army and rose to the rank of brigadier general. He was most notable for recruiting and leading the Irish Brigade and encouraging support among Irish immigrants for the Union.
Following the Civil War, Meagher was appointed Montana’s Territorial Secretary of State by President Andrew Jackson. He also served as acting territorial governor. In 1867, Meagher drowned after falling from a steamboat. The cause of his fall is disputed by historians, but the biography suggests he may have been murdered by political opponents.
With the permission of our worthy president, I’d like to start putting together a reading list to place on our website.
Trip to Ireland raffle sales: JP McCusker
As of right now, we have 450 tickets sold. We have 273 tickets in in circulation. And we have a ticket inventory of 277. We need to sell at least 500 to break even. So, we are getting there. But we really need help with the raffle ticket sales. Our next sales at the church are the weekend of March 6 and 7.
Strategic plan: Mike Riley
Focused on two elements of the strategic plan:
Access Current Fundraising — We need to personally engage members not in attendance with selling 10-20 tickets to meet JP’s goal. There were 36 members in attendance in December but only have participated in January and February. All need to be participating in a fundraiser that provides funds for the charities we donate to. This reaching out should be shared across all members.
Engage Members — Jay McCarthy mentioned the Gaelic Mass on March 15. This is an event that celebrities our heritage and members should be strongly encouraged to attend. This is a great return on investment (ROI). We need more participation in clean-ups. Seven out of the #’s of members we have does not reflect the size of this fraternal organization and our goal for friendship. Bingo kitchen support is not an AOH function and may not reflect an ROI for us.
Mike would like to get a copy of the Blue Book.
Pro-Life: Mike McManus – no report
Political education: Vince Fitzpatrick – no report because he’s recovering from surgery.
Veterans affairs: Doug Morrison – no report
Webmaster: Brian Tumulty – I was late sending out the minutes this month and next month I hope to have them done at least two weeks before the March meeting.
Tom asked Brian to start sending out the division emails.
Hunger Project: Bart Emanuel – No report.
Project St. Patrick: Rich Aleksy – No report.
Bingo kitchen: Tom Masarick – We have a schedule through the end of June with three teams led by Tom, John Masarick and Pete Hawkins. So far they have received $100 each month.
Beer Tasting: Dan O’Leary – Dan was not at the meeting, but Tom said it is scheduled for April 30. Tom is offering as a donation a poster of Irish pubs that could be part of a raffle for the beer tasting.
Unfinished business: None
New business:
Rich Aleksy said the bylaws committee will look at meetings and he suggested continuing Tuesday meetings through June 8. His proposal passed by a majority vote with four members opposed.
State President Jay McCarthy welcomed the new members Michael O’Hara and Chris Sozio on behalf of the 800 plus Hibernians in Virginia. McCarthy said they are joining a great organization with a lot of fraternalism as they can see tonight and will see in the months to come. McCarthy also urged out division to give its new business meeting dates and the dates of any upcoming events to the state webmaster Patrick Shea. McCarthy also urged division members to support the Gaelic Mass on March 15. McCarthy said he’s trying to encourage as much networking among the divisions at this point because of the COVID limitations.
President Tom said that we never seem to have time for music at our division meeting. He’s looking for another alternative. He would like to see if we could share music over the web. We’ll see what we can do. Music’s an important part of our heritage as well.
Good of the order: Prayers were offered for our brother Joe Cahill and for all Hibernians and their families as we go through this COVID and get the vaccine.
Dominic also suggested we pray for the people of Ireland.
End at 8:35 pm
