By Paddy McCarthy
I wish all our readers a very happy Memorial Weekend with plenty of sunshine. It’s going to be a busy one with a lot happening, especially with the 45th East Durham Irish Festival being held this Saturday and Sunday. The cream of Irish music will be performing with a taste of music for everybody to listen to. Topping the live music lineup will be The Narrowbacks, together with The Young Dubliners, Ronan Tynan, The Andy Cooney Band and The Young Wolfe Tones featuring the original Wolfe Tone, Derek Warfield himself. There will be many, many more entertainers and ceili dancers for your enjoyment plus the master of ceremonies who is none other than Jimmy Walsh, known as “Mister Catskills”. I am told that there are tickets still available so make sure to get yours from EDIrishFest.com where you can also find more information on the line-ups and entertainment.
This is something that I will always support and it came to me from Rebecca Skedd, CEO of Solace House. It said: “Dear Supporter and friend of Solace House, the countdown to the 2022 Solace Sunrise Walk has officially begun! We’re gearing up for the 2022 Solace Sunrise Walk, our annual 5K walk/run which raises much needed funds and awareness for Solace House.
“The services provided by Solace House are critical now, more than ever. As depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation continue to increase, the demand for our services has risen drastically.90% of our financial budget is achieved through fundraising, therefore, running successful events, like our Solace Sunrise Walk, is critical for us.
“We really appreciate the support from our community and are looking forward to a phenomenal Solace Sunrise Walk this summer!”
Starting in the dark and early hours of the morning, participants will walk together as the dawn breaks and sunlight emerges. The Solace Sunrise Walk invites people from across the country to embark on a journey symbolic of the path many of their clients experience while attending their counseling services – making one’s way from a place of darkness and loneliness to a place of hope and healing.
This extraordinary event continues to bring the community together each year, as we walk in solidarity, fighting the fight against suicide. Join them this summer, as they continue to break down the stigma and create awareness around suicide and mental health. Together we will work towards a world without suicide.
The funds raised through the Solace Sunrise Walk will help the organization expand their counseling services for those who are in suicidal crisis, as well as broaden their much-needed community awareness workshops and training programs. Most importantly, funds raised will enable them to continue providing invaluable services at no cost.
Now what else would you be doing other than going for a good healthy walk and also you will be supporting a very good cause so you go and start walking. Here are the dates in case you would like to walk them all now that should be some fun for some of you. I might give it a go myself. To find a venue near you, visit their website at https://solacehouseusa.org/solace-sunrise-walk.
Located in Long Island City, Queens and Yonkers, Solace House provides free one-on-one counseling for people who are in suicidal distress, have made a suicide attempt, engage in self-harm or have been bereaved by suicide. Also offered is family support for clients’ loved ones, as well as group bereavement counseling and community awareness workshops and training.
All of Solace House’s services are completely free of charge, confidential, and provided by Licensed Clinical Social Workers who have vast experience in the area of suicide prevention and mental health. Their vision is a world where suicide, self-harm and stigma have been replaced by hope, self-care and acceptance with a mission to support people, families and communities in crisis by providing free, easily accessible, mental health services to all.
The Gaelic Athletic Association of Greater New York has announced that their 88th Annual Banquet will be held on Saturday, June 25th at Fairways at Dunwoodie (1 Wasylenko Lane in Yonkers) with cocktails, dinner and dancing from 7 pm to 12 am to the music of Mary G and Frankie Lee. Tickets are $100 per person.
This year’s Guest of Honor is Denis Twomey. Born in the Bronx and raised in Manhattan, Denis joined the Rangers Gaelic Football Club of New York in 1973 and played all the way through the underage ranks. He captained the U18 team which won the Minor Championship in 1981 and was also on the 1982 Junior Championship team. He continued on with the Rangers as a manager and currently serves as Senior Chairman of the Club. He has held many positions with the New York Minor Board up to and including Chairman.
At present, Denis is the Assistant Treasurer for the Minor Board and the Development Officer for the Senior Board. Denis has worked tirelessly to promote and facilitate the involvement of children in GAA, and we are grateful to him for his passion, commitment and dedication.
The recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award is John Marren. Born and raised in Montiagh, Curry, County Sligo, John was introduced to football at a young age and won an Under 14 County Championship medal in 1956. Four days after John’s arrival in New York in 1963, his Aunt Catherine mentioned she had come upon a few lads kicking football in Central Park on her way home from work. Not only did this tip lead to John’s togging out for Longford, it also lead to a job the following Monday morning. John played with the Club for the next eight next eight years until an injury in 1971 forced him to hang up his boots.
After the family moved to Putnam Lake, John served as President of the West Put GFC before moving to Florida in 1987. John returned to New York in 1992 and involved himself with the Sligo Football Club of NY where he became President. John loves the GAA and has spent countless hours in Gaelic Park. Fifty-nine years since his arrival in New York and John still looks forward to going to the games.
The GAA Community Spirit Award will also be presented to Catherine Flood. A native of Errigal Truagh, County Monaghan, Catherine is President of Catherine Flood Recruiting and Consulting Company (Eskra Personnel Inc.). Since arriving in the US, Catherine has been deeply involved in all aspects of the GAA, principally as a player, founder of the Monaghan Ladies NY and early development of the New York Ladies GAA.
She is a founding member of Team Aisling, and a devoted volunteer with Project Children. An avid runner, Catherine has run twelve marathons, primarily raising funds for special needs groups, and most recently, Catherine ran a marathon for the “Sláinte 2020” initiative in collaboration with the Team Aisling committee.
The first ever Irish festival in Patchogue is set to take off in June. Of course, the festival would not be complete without bangers & mash. Tickets are $25 and the proceeds will benefit Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Hope House Ministries and Hibernian Charities, organizers wrote on Eventgroove.com. The Inish Fada Fleadh will be held on June 11th and 12th on the grounds of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which is located at 495 North Ocean Avenue. The gates will open daily at 12 noon.
The lineup includes the McLean Avenue Band, Sporting Paddies, Derek Warfield and the Young Wolfetones, The Narrowbacks, Andy Cooney, The Canny Brothers Band, and Clear the Battlefield.
Don’t forget that “Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom” will be performed by Aedín Moloney in the Irish Rep’s W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre from June 8th to July 17th. From the novel Ulysses by James Joyce, adapted for the stage by Aedín Moloney and Colum McCann the show, directed by John Keating will feature music by Paddy Moloney.
The show is a daring theatrical journey into the mind and heart of James Joyce’s most sensual hero – a woman of women, a soul of souls, the indomitable Molly Bloom. It is Ireland in the early hours of June 17th, 1904. Molly Bloom’s husband – the philandering Leopold “Poldy” Bloom – has just come home and fallen asleep in their Dublin row house. Molly – a daughter, a mother, a lover, and a long-suffering wife – patrols the pathways of her wild and leaping consciousness. She is lustful. Scared. Exuberant. Heartbreakingly lonely. Vivaciously reckless. And profoundly funny.
Isn’t that just great? Don’t forget to also go and see the show “Belfast Girls” which will play on their Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage until June 26th.
See you all next week when I am Out&About again…