News

The pipes are calling indeed!

Let me introduce you to the West Side Irish-American Club Pipe Band.
As of January 2013, the Irish Heritage Pipe Band is joining the West Side Irish-American Club and will now be known as the West Side Irish-American Club Pipe Band. The Band has been together for over 12 years and is made up of nine pipers, three snare drummers, four tenor drummers, and a base drummer. In 2012, the Band was recognized as the First Place Pipe Band in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The Band wears the Irish National kilt with a style that is known as a military press. The Band plays at a number of community events and special occasions from Put in Bay to Cleveland and in between. This group of musicians currently practices at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Avon and will also be holding practices at the Club on a regular basis.
Greg Oster, Pipe Major, and Mike Taylor, Drum Sergeant, are the musical leaders of the group. Please know that anyone who has an interest in learning how to play the pipes or drums is welcome and encouraged to call or e-mail Greg Donnelly, Band Manager, at 216-538-1287 or gdonn0309@aol.com. We have experienced teachers available to help you learn the instrument of your choice. Once again, if you have ever had an interest in learning the pipes or drums don’t hesitate to get in touch with Greg. The Band is excited to be a part of the West Side Irish-American Club and looks forward to getting to know and serve the membership. We’ll see you soon.

Greg Donnelly, Band Manager

Forever Young

The big day is almost here. The Forever Young St.Patrick’s Day Party is on March 14th. Tickets are $11.00 each. Invite your friends for a day of good food and entertainment. Call Jean Kessler on 440-743-7829 for tickets. Door prizes donations would be greatly appreciated. Tickets for Lolly the Trolley are $15.00 if you are leaving from the Club and $10.00 if you are leaving from St. Colman’s Church. Please call Mary Ellen Grealis on 440-235-6528 for information and tickets.

Marilyn Farrone has a trip going to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan in July. The dates are: July 16-19 (Tues-Fri). The trip includes casinos, Frankenmuth, Mackinac City, lots of food, and casino bonuses. Call Marilyn on 216-267-3215 for details.

FOREVER YOUNG Can you believe that St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner? Forever Young will have two buses: 1) pick up at the Club for $15, or 2) pick up at St. Colman’s for $10. Reservations will be taken at the Feb 14th meeting. Marilyn Farone still has a few seats on her Feb 12th trip to Rivers Casino. The cost is $23.00. Marilyn also has a trip going to the Hollywood Casino in Toledo on March 6th. The cost is $21.00, and you get back $20.00. If interested, please call Marilyn at 216-267-3215. Coletta Schwartz still has a few seats available for the Soaring Eagle trip running April 7th-9th. Please contact Coletta or Bill Schwartz at 440-888-8547 for more information and the itinerary. Tickets for our St. Patrick’s Day Party will go on sale at the Feb 14th meeting. The cost is $11.00 per person. Please call Jean Kessler at 440-743-8729 or Pat McCarthy at 440-845-2147 for reservations. Mary Ellen Grealis, Chairperson 440-235-6528 Janet Saringer, Vice-Chairperson; Mickey Grealis, Treasurer; Mary Ellen McFarland, Secretary; Carol Trego, Sergeant-at-Arms Please contact Rosemarie Houlehan, Health and Welfare Chairperson, at 440-353-0925, to send a card to Forever Young Members who are sick or have lost an immediate family member.

Irish American Chorale Seeking Singers:  The Irish American Chorale is currently looking for new singers. The IA Chorale sings a variety of Irish and Religious music and we welcome suggestions. Our next rehearsal will be Monday, February 4 at 7 pm at St. Thomas More Church in Brooklyn (4170 North Amber Dr., Brooklyn, OH 44144).  Please contact Katie Cooper (216-470-6520) with any questions.  Hope to see you there!

St. Augustine’s Hunger Center Fund Raiser

On November8th, we had a successful fund raiser for St. Augustine’s Hunger Center at the club. Mary’s Lane played to the enjoyment of everyone. When all the donations were counted we were able to give Father Joe McNulty and Sister Corita $3,500.00 for Thanksgiving. St. Augustine’s served over 17,000 meals throughout our five counties on Thanksgiving Day.  We hope to make this an annual event.

Congratulations to our Honorees!

Woman of the Year, MARGE FLYNN

Man of the Year, JOE KILBANE

Queen, MEGAN STEFANCIN

Learn Ceili Dancing and the Social Dances of Ireland

Enjoy Good Company, Exercise, and Tradition
Thursdays 7:00-9:00 PM January 3, 10, 24  February 14 &
Maire Manning TCRG / An Coimisiun le Rinci Gaelacha
For more information call: 216.228.5352

FOREVER YOUNG

Wasn’t that a great party? Good food catered by P.T. O’Malley. Thanks to all who donated door prizes. The committee did a wonderful job of collecting donations from various vendors. Thanks to the committee chaired by Mary Ellen Grealis, Kay Carey, Mary O’Grady and Mary Ellen McFarland. Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, January 10th at 1pm. Hope to see you there.

Christmas Decorating

A BIG THANK YOU to the following members who were involved in getting the Club decorated for the Christmas season. Starting with those who helped move the decorations from the 3rd floor of the storage barn to the first floor, to be loaded on the truck for delivery to the main building: Eddie Campbell, Dan Chambers, Dan Chambers III, Emmett & Liam Chambers, John & Michael Mangan. Those who fluffed the wreaths and bows & hung them on the walls and pillars: Mary Catherine Falle, Cathy Lally, Maureen Lavelle & Doris Murphy. Then, in Nov. these ladies were joined by Carol & Steve Andrews, Kathy Barrett, Dick & Kay Bowman, Nancy Csorey, Bridget Dever, Maureen Dorsey, Leo Fox, Sheila Fox, Anne Gallagher, Mary Ellen Grealis, Carol Ann Kennedy, Sara McLaughlin, Mary Ann McNeela, Peggy O’Neill-Mulcrone, John O’Brien, Doreen Papajcik, Mary Ryan, Nancy Sheehan & Sam Tacchite. A Special Thank You to Kevin McDonough who, with the help of Fred Mertes, provided the delicious dinner for the decorators. John Lavelle, Decorating Chairman

IRISH NEW YEAR’S PARTY

Join us again this year as we celebrate

New Year’s Eve Irish Style!
Dec. 31, 2012 5-10PM
(countdown at 7PM)

$20 in advance (includes light supper and open bar) or $25 at the door

IRISH MIKE MALONE
will provide a variety of music for your dancing pleasure

For reservations call Maureen RIce at 440-366-5748 (home) or 440-223-8512 (cell)

2013 MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL HAS BEGUN!

You can expect your application to arrive in the mail by the end of November or the beginning of December. Don’t forget you can renew online as well…Hope to see you all back in 2013!

FOREVER YOUNG:

Our Christmas Party will be held on Thursday, Dec. 13 at 1PM. TIckets are $11 and must be paid for by Friday, Dec. 7. Guests are welcome! Please call Mary O’Grady 440-779-4801, or Kay Carey 440-777-7476 for tickets or door prize donations.

Marilyn Farone is having a trip to Firekeepers and Soaring Eagles from April 17-19, 2013. Call for details: 216-267-3215

Wishing you a holiday filled with Joy and Happiness!

LADIES RAFFLE THANKS:

The Ladies only reverse raffle was a fantastic party! Thank you so very much to all of the committee members, and volunteers for all that you did to make the evening a fun and successful! A donation was made on behalf of the West Side Irish-American Club, “Kay Forrey Ladies only Reverse Raffle” to the Gathering Place. Have a Very Merry Christmas and a Healthy and Happy New Year!
The Committee of the “ Kay Forrey Reverse Raffle”

HALLOWEEN PARTY THANKS:

Kids Halloween Party:
We would like to thank everyone who attended the Kids Halloween Party in October and helped make it a great success. Special thanks to those who helped decorate the hall and to serve food. See you all next year, mark the  date down for Friday, October 25th.
Maria Owens, Meghan Maloney-Craig and KJ Greeney

PIG ROAST THANK YOU:

The Pig Roast, By Peggy Calvey Patton
It was Achill weather, rainy and windy, but the party room was welcoming and cheerful with 150 club members and their friends. The menu was pork/pig, sauerkraut and two different kinds of potatoes: baked or mashed; salad
and rolls. The meal was delicious, the DJ played our favorite songs, and the Browns won! What more can you ask for on a cold Sunday afternoon in October, but good company, a winning team and great food? Many thanks to Diane and Dan Flick for organizing this wonderful event.

ATTENTION ALL MARCHING UNITS

Registration & First Practice is Sunday, January 6, 2013
JUST A REMINDER: To march with The West Side Irish-American Club on St. Patrick’s Day you must be a member in good standing, or the child of a member in good standing, as of February 28, 2013. Your cooperation is appreciated.

POM POMS: Due to the limited availability of uniforms and the demand for marching positions, we will be honoring seniority for the marching season. Those girls who were members of the 2012 Pom Pom group will be guaranteed a position in the 2013 group, but ONLY if you are present at the FIRST day of registration, January 6th. If you cannot be present on January 6th, then you MUST contact Patti Hanrahan (directly-no messages, at 440-779-0607) BEFORE the registration date, otherwise you will NOT be guaranteed a position

PLEASE SEE THE BULLETIN FOR MARCHING REGISTRATION FORM, DEADLINES AND CONTACT INFORMATION

Elections:

There was no election for Trustees because the eligible nominees declined their nominations. The current  Trustees that were running for re-election will start their new 3 year term on January 1st, 2013. We had nominations for Club Officers and John O’Brien, President, Maureen Rice, Recording Secre-tary, Maureen Lavelle, Treasurer and Dan Chambers, Sergeant-at-Arms were unopposed. Nominated to run for Vice President were Kevin McDonough our current VP and Bill Rice. Nominated for Financial Secretary were Jim Caffrey our current Fin. Secy., Ann Murphy and Mary Ellen Grealis. If those nomi-nated accept their nominations we will have an election for these 2 Club Officers at the Nov. 15th meeting.

FOREVER YOUNG

The next meeting of Forever Young will be on Thursday, Nov. 8th at 1pm. Tickets for the Christmas Party will go on sale then. The cost is $11.00. It will be catered by P.T. O’Malley; please invite your friends. Tables of 8 may be reserved. Marilyn Farone has several trips planned: Nov. 28th, Middlefield Turkey Dinner, cost $62.00; Jan 8th and Feb. 12th, Rivers Casino, cost is $23.00, get back $30.00. All trips include the tip for the driver. Call Marilyn at 216-267-3215. Tickets are still available for the Thanksgiving Raffle; please support your club.

Mary Ellen Grealis, Chairperson 440-235-6528 Janet Saringer, Vice-Chairperson; Mickey Grealis, Treasurer; Mary Ellen McFarland, Secretary; Carol Trego, Sergeant-at-Arms Please contact Rosemarie Houlehan, Health and Welfare Chairperson, at 440-353-0925, to send a card to Forever Young Members who are sick or have lost an immediate family member.

FOREVER YOUNG

Ann Hill from Universal Health Care gave a very informative talk on affordable health care at our last meeting. Our next meeting will be on Thursday October 11th.  If you haven’t bought your Thanksgiving Raffle tickets,
please do so. Your club needs your support. It’s not too soon to think about Christmas. Our party will  be on Thursday December 13th; details next month.  Door prizes or Chinese raffle prizes would be greatly appreciated.

Mary Ellen Grealis, Chairperson 440-235-6528
Janet Saringer, Vice-Chairperson; Mickey Grealis, Treasurer;
Mary Ellen McFarland, Secretary; Carol Trego, Sergeant-at-Arms

Please contact Rosemarie Houlehan, Health and Welfare Chairperson, at 440-353-0925, to send a card to Forever Young Members who are sick or have lost an immediate family member.

THANKSGIVING RAFFLE

West Side Irish-American Club Annual Thanksgiving Day Raffle

Only 2,500 Tickets Sold * Winner Need Not be Present * Drawing Held November 22, 2012
Donation: $20.00
First Prize – $10,000 * Second Prize – $2,500 * Third Prize – $1,000 * Fourth Prize – $1,000

Return Your Tickets Early to be Entered into the Special Seller’s Drawing.  At the October 18th General Meeting we will have a special drawing for all raffle tickets sold and returned to the Club by October 18, 2012. One ticket will be drawn; the seller of that ticket will receive a $100.00 GAS CARD. The ticket will then be returned to the drum for the Thanksgiving Day drawing. The sellers of the winning tickets will also receive a money prize.

Please check the October 2012 bulletin for ticket order form.

Our annual picnic was held inside because of the threat of rain. On the bright side we had no bees or ants. Thanks to our volunteers: Tom and Betty Clark, Marge Lavelle, Mary Napier, and Mickey and Mary Ellen Grealis. The food by P.T. O’Malley was great; the Pasta Salad by Tim got great reviews. Door prizes were donated by Marge Jeffers, Jean Kessler, Marge Lavelle, and Mary Napier.

Our next meeting is on Thursday Sept 13th. Hope to see you there. Happy Labor Day!

Mary Ellen Grealis, Chairperson 440-235-6528
Janet Saringer, Vice-Chairperson; Mickey Grealis, Treasurer;
Mary Ellen McFarland, Secretary; Carol Trego, Sergeant-at-Arms

Please contact Rosemarie Houlehan, Health and Welfare Chairperson, at 440-353-0925, to send a card to Forever Young Members who are sick or have lost an immediate family member.

Kamm’s Corners Independence Day Parade Join us for the July 4th parade at 9:30 am. Our beautiful float from the St. Patrick’s Day parade will be there. The parade departs from Kamm’s Plaza, travels east on Lorain Avenue, turns north at West Park Avenue which curves west to Rocky River Drive. Come along for the fun!

Cleveland itself has an amazing GAA history going back to c1918 with the Cleveland Young Ireland’s Football team. Players on this team included the late Pat Duffy, Jim Mannion and Phil McGovern. There are stories of how the team would take the night boat to Detroit for games. After the game they would attend a dance then the night boat back to Cleveland. It is believed there were also active clubs in Pittsburgh and Buffalo.

Henry Cavanaugh was President of the Cleveland GAA in the 1930’s. Games were played at local venues such as Gordon Park, Edgewater Park, Puritas Springs Park and Shamrock Field. It is thought that none or very little Gaelic football was played in the city from the late 1930’s to mid-1940’s. It is in 1948 that we find records of the current club Cleveland St Pat’s GFC being formed.

In 1949 Pat Lynch, Henry Cavanaugh and Pat Duffy in conjunction with contacts in Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Buffalo formed the Midwest Gaelic Football League. Games were played at Brookside, League Park, Shaw Stadium and West Tech. A new practice field was eventually located at E110th and St Clair. In the fall of 1950 Katherine (Murphy) Kearney was elected secretary of the Cleveland GAA. At the same time a Midwest select team travelled to Boston to play a New England select team. The Midwest team was coached by Pat Duffy and had 2 Clevelanders on the team: Mickey Prendergast and Gene O’Donnell. The Midwest would win by a single point.

Throughout the 1950’s it seems there were several different Gaelic Football and hurling teams in Cleveland. It would be Cleveland St Pat’s team that would go on to dominate the North American GAA scene during the 1960’s winning 3 national titles in a row

Over the next few decades members of the Cleveland GAA would become greatly involved with the National GAA – John O’Brien, Sean Gannon, Henry Cavanaugh, John Herlighy, Al O’Leary to name but a few. St Pat’s GFC would continue alone through the 1970’s. this past few decades the club has seen several men take on the role as club chairman; from the 1980’s to early 2000’s it was the Gannon family who made the commitment with both Sean Sr. and Jr. taking on the role. More recently, since 2005 Derry native Mark Owens has served as Chairman.

Cleveland St Pat’s have been the long standing home team of the West Side Irish-American Club for quite a while and have long term plans to develop the current field with the help assistance of the GAA in Ireland. It is an exciting time for the local team as they will be leading the way in hosting the 2013 National Gaelic Games to be held in Cleveland.

If interested in playing for the team please email stpatsgfc@yahoo.com or visit their website at www.clevelandstpatsgfc.com. Feel free to call Mark Owens with questions at 440-331-3539.

FOREVER YOUNG

Our annual Mass for deceased members was celebrated at our June 14, 2012 meeting. The Mass was inspiring, as was Fr. Cornelius Murray’s homily. Thanks to Marge Lavelle and Mary Napier for setting up the Alter. Good Job Ladies.

Our annual Picnic will be on August 8th. Tickets will go on sale at the July 12th meeting. Price will be $11.00 per person.

Mary Ellen Grealis is planning a trip to Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh for Tuesday July 17th. The cost is $26.00 per person. Please call Mary Ellen at 440-235-6528 if interested.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

Mary Ellen Grealis, Chairperson 440-235-6528 Janet Saringer, Vice-Chairperson; Mickey Grealis, Treasurer; Mary Ellen McFarland, Secretary; Carol Trego, Sergeant-at-Arms

Please contact Rosemarie Houlehan, Health and Welfare Chairperson, at 440-353-0925, to send a card to Forever Young Members who are sick or have lost an immediate family member.