By Paddy McCarthy
I am starting my Out&About this week with some sad news on a friend Aidan Bowles, RIP. A Cork man, he was among more than the 200 victims of Hurricane Helene. His misfortune was that he decided to stay in his one-story cottage in Indian Rocks Beach in Pinellas County despite a mandatory evacuation order urging residents to flee.
Customers who visited Salt Public House in Indian Rocks Beach for a beer or burger had a good chance of meeting Aidan. An Irish businessman and entrepreneur, Bowles opened the Gulf Boulevard restaurant in 2018 with his wife, Sabrina, and son, Sam.
Bowles visited customers at their tables, often pulling up a chair to chat. “He loved to talk to anybody and everybody,” his son Sam Bowles recalled. Aidan closed the business in 2023, but he stayed in Indian Rocks Beach, a place he and Sabrina fell in love with when they first visited in the 1980s. He’d recently moved into a cottage on 12th Avenue that he’d owned for decades.
Aidan was a legend from Cork to New York and all the down to Kentucky and Florida as he had a personality that everybody loved when they got to meet with him whether its business or pleasure as he was a brilliant Irish businessman and entrepreneur, again Rest in Peace Aidan and Sabrina.
It looks like that it is not finished yet as the weatherman has told us Hurricane Milton has grown to a category 5 hurricane. I feel very sorry for all the residents living in Florida and I hope that all will be safe.
I will now give you some upbeat news as here is an announcement that I got that should interest a lot of families. The United Irish Counties Association of New York, Inc. has announced its 2024 Essay Contest: “The United Irish Counties Association is pleased to announce that it is sponsoring BOTH a High School and a College Essay Contest in 2024. A student who is a Senior in High School or a Freshman in College and who is the son, daughter, grandchild, grandnephew, grandniece, nephew or niece of a member in good standing of an organization affiliated with the United Irish Counties Association in 2024 is eligible to enter the contest. The Topic for High School Seniors is: ‘In all aspects of life prior to August 26, 1920, women’s ‘voices’ were largely ignored, if acknowledged at all. In what ways and by what means did a basically uneducated woman, New Yorker Leonora O’Reilly, get business owners to recognize their workers’ physical, employment and financial needs?’ and the Topic for College Freshmen is: ‘John Philip Holland, Inventor and Father of the Modern Submarine. Discuss the life and legacy of this extraordinary Irishman.’
“A minimum of 1000 words on typewritten double spaced pages is required and all essays are to be submitted with accompanying bibliography in order to satisfy requirements.
“The first, second and third prizewinners will receive individual prizes of $1,000, $600 and $400, respectively. College Prizes: The first prizewinner will receive the Rosemary V. Lombard Scholarship in the amount of $2,500.00, the second and third prizewinners will receive individual prizes of $1,500 and $1,000, respectively.
“The completed official application form must accompany the essay entry and be postmarked no later than December 28, 2024.
“Entries from College Freshmen must be sent to: Mrs. Kit Smith, UICANY Essay Contest Committee, 60 Terrace Avenue, Floral Park, NY 11001 or emailed to nolagh@aol.com.
“Entries from High School Seniors must be sent to: Ms. Kathleen V. Mattessich, UICANY Essay Contest Committee, 315 West 61st Street, Apt. 10S, New York, NY 10023 or emailed to kvmattessich@gmail.com
“A number of raters, who will not be provided with any identifying information regarding the names of the applicants or their affiliations, will independently rate each paper, based upon standards established by members of the Essay Contest Committee of the United Irish Counties Association of New York, Inc. Any submissions found to have been plagiarized or not written by the age appropriate child will be deemed ineligible.
“All entries become property of the UICANY Essay Contest Committee and it should be understood that no award from this Essay Contest shall cause any other financial aid received by students to be in any way diminished.
“All are encouraged to publicize the United Irish Counties Association of New York, Inc. Essay Contest and to duplicate this announcement and the accompanying application in order that the maximum number of eligible students might avail themselves of this opportunity.”
My thanks to Kit Smith, Chairperson of the UICANY Essay Contest Committee, Catherine T. Hogan, Corresponding Secretary for sending in this information.
I must end with some more sad news however as I received the following announcement from Martin Bellew this week: “The Grand Council of United Emerald Societies is profoundly saddened to share the news of Madeline Helen Whalen’s death on Friday, October 4.
“Madeline was the cherished wife of Peter F. Whalen, our Past President and NYPD Emerald Society Past President, and a loving mother to Peter F. Jr. and Tori. Please keep Madeline and the Whalen family in your prayers. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam. May her soul be seated on God’s right hand. Go bráthartha.”
I had to include this news for you to read in my Out&About as I personally knew them very well. I hope to see you all again next week when I am Out&About again…