***PARADE CANCELED***
ALERT, ALERT, ALERT
The Saint Patrick's Day Parade in New York this coming Tuesday, March 17, has been cancelled and postponed until later this year. Governor Cuomo made the official announcement on Wednesday evening having consulted with the parade leadership.
We will keep you posted on further details as they develop.
Enjoy and celebrate the special on the 17th. Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all.
------------------------------
NEW YORK COUNTY LAOIS ASSOCIATION
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Tuesday, March 17,
2020
Assembly
Time Our
Laois Association will assemble this year at its usual location opposite 48 West
48th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. We are scheduled to assemble
at 3:20 p.m., after County Meath and ahead of County Wicklow. Please remember to respect the parade committee’s
dress code, which prohibits sneakers, jeans, or inappropriate dress and head
gear.
Grand
Marshal William Traver has graciously accepted the
Laois Association’s invitation to serve as its Grand Marshal this
year. Over the past 30 years, Bill has helped carry our Laois banner and
flags on St. Patrick’s Day. This year he will wear the Laois Grand Marshal sash,
and he tells us he is very proud to lead his fellow Laois marchers up the
Avenue. Bill has marched with Laois ever
since he joined the Kehoe family several years ago his through marriage to Lesley
Kehoe, herself a former Grand Marshal. He traces his Irish ancestry back to the
Faheys of Galway, where his daughter Jennifer currently makes her home.
A graduate of Bucknell University, Bill earned
his MBA and MS in data analysis from Miami University of Ohio. Professionally
he advanced through various positions in marketing and operations management in
several companies including Reader’s
Digest, FlexPak, and Ashland Inc. When he retired from the corporate world,
Bill turned his attention to managing his real estate portfolio. He is an avid sportsman,
having played rugby at college and later with several senior rugby clubs. Bill has
continued to coach the sport, and for many seasons he led his team--on which
his son, Will, was a player--to a top ten standing nationwide. Moreover, he’s an
accomplished martial arts practitioner, with a third-degree black belt in taekwondo
and hapkido. Bill also finds time to be an active member of his parish, where
he co-teaches a third-grade CCD class with his daughter Elizabeth. One of the guiding
principles in Bill’s life is the importance of a strong family, and he is
exceptionally proud of his wife, Lesley; son, Will; and daughters, Jennifer and
Elizabeth. He is most appreciative of all of their support.
Delegation
from County Laois The Laois County Council in Ireland has kindly
accepted our Association’s invitation to fly into New York and march with us on
Fifth Avenue. The County Council delegation includes Councillor Conor Bergin,
who will be representing the County Chairman (Cathaoirleach) Willie Aird. He
will be accompanied by John Mulholland, the Laois County Chief Executive.
Contacts
Mike Dunphy, President,
(973) 886-6097, mike.dunphy@att.net Larry McEvoy, Vice President,
(917) 833-3218, larrymcevoy2@gmail.com
Minister
Charlie Flanagan Our
sincere thanks to Minister Charlie Flanagan, whose constituency is Laois-Offaly,
for marching with us last St. Patrick’s Day. The Laois Association congratulates
him on his recent reelection.
Bill
McEvoy Congratulations, too, to Bill McEvoy, our
association’s senior statesman, who recently celebrated his 97th
birthday. Bill hopes to join us on the Avenue again this year, even though he
has just overcome a tough fight with pneumonia. We wish him a speedy recovery.
Still active at 97, Bill continues his great life’s work with the Comhaltas
Ceoltóirí Éireann in the U.S. and Canada, which he founded in the 1960s. Bill still takes pride in playing a mean
fiddle in his own band, especially on St. Patrick’s Day.
Tom
Phelan
Mountmellick author Tom Phelan’s acclaimed memoir of growing up on a small farm
in Laois, We Were Rich and We Didn't Know
It: A Memoir of My Irish Boyhood, has now been released in paperback. Following
its launch in New York last year, the memoir was also published in Ireland and
the U.K. In the coming weeks Tom will give
talks about his Laois boyhood and read from his memoir at several venues. These
include:
·
Thursday,
March 5, at 7 p.m., Hillside Public Library, New Hyde Park, NY
·
Thursday,
March 12, at 2 p.m., Bethpage Public Library, Bethpage, NY
He
is also scheduled to participate in the following festivals:
·
Sunday,
March 8, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Hofstra Irish Festival, Hempstead, NY
·
Saturday,
April 25, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Baldwin Library Author Festival, Baldwin, NY
We would like to thank Patricia Phelan, Tom’s wife, for helping to edit
this newsletter. Patricia is the program chair for the Irish Family History
Forum genealogy group (ifhf.org), which meets
monthly at the Bethpage Library. Please contact: programs@ifhf.org for further details.
2020 Scholarship Contest The Parade Committee
offers several scholarships this year, three for a college-level research paper
and three for a high school–level research paper. Details, eligibility, and
forms for applicants are available on the Parade’s website at: www.nycstpatricksparade.org. Deadlines
for research papers must be submitted no later than Wednesday, April 1, 2020, at
11 p.m.
Important Websites
·
United
Irish Counties: uicany.org
·
Laois
news from Ireland: laoistoday.ie
See You on the Avenue ... Le Chonaigh De
