Hibernian Hubbub

Brothers,

Most of you have received a letter from Seamus Boyle. This letter is stating a “case” against National President Jack Meehan. Jack wants you all to know that there are two sides to every story and enclosed is Jack’s reply. Here is an interesting point that I should bring out. BEFORE Jack was elected our National President Seamus Boyle approached Jack and asked him if he “planned on running for a 2nd term”. Jack at the time thought it was a rather odd question to ask. Now, as things unfold it is obvious that there was a planned background to this venture by Seamus Boyle. The incident that kicked off Seamus’ campaign was the Smithsonian incident. What happened was the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC, had a folk festival over this past 4th of July. They “invited” the Orange Order to participate for their “contributions” to their community, etc. Along with them came Martin McGuiness. Jack contacted Martin and told him that we did not approve of him being shoulder to shoulder with the Orange Order under these conditions. NOW Past President, Ned McGinley took deep offense to this objection and questioning of Mr. McGuiness. As Ned McGinley supports Sinn Fein 110%. I , and many others, contacted the Smithsonian and told them and I quote ,”inviting the Orange Order here for their contributions to their community is like inviting the Klu Klux Klan to an NAACP convention for their contributions to the Black Community”. I also stated that is an insult to every Irish American Catholic and even worse to the Catholics of Northern Ireland. That is basically the background to this current situation. Now WE NEED YOUR HELP. Please SUPPORT Jack and try to get as many as possible to the National Convention in New Orleans next July 2008.

Division President Leo Falter Speech to Bob:

Bobby Wallace’s President’s Night Honorarium

Good evening everyone.  Thank you for coming to this special night.  Tonight we honor a one of a kind man, our Division 14, AOH past-president Bobby Wallace. When you have an organization like the Ancient Order of Hibernians, with a motto around friendship, unity and Christian charity, you need to have people that are passionate about those beliefs.  Some people join organizations to say they belong to something and others join to get benefits from the organization.  Believe it or not I believe sometimes others join to sit by the sidelines and gripe about the organization as a way to feel included.   When you join an organization it is like starting a team.  The first thing you need is a team captain, and in the case of our AOH organization, our president is our captain.  The president needs to relate to all members not just his close friends or allies.  As a team leader, the president, needs to bring people together for the betterment of the organization and put the causes and beliefs above his own needs. It can be difficult to be in a leadership position when balancing doing things for your families and friends and the organizational commitments you must keep.  Trying to keep everyone around you happy and satisfied can be such a challenge.  Also you cannot leave anything UNDONE, and that is where it is important to rely on your team.  In the Hibernians we have to have faith in our brothers and sisters to be a part of the team effort.   Through his leadership, Bobby has shown us, how to make this happen.  He has done all that has asked of him and much, much more!  Not only did he perform his duties with enthusiasm; but his energy was contagious.  Bobby rallied the team and got more people involved. When I first joined the AOH, I never thought I would become as active as I am today.  But with Bobby’s persuasive conversations, I quickly saw the benefits of membership.  (Thanks a lot Bobby!)  Seriously though I mean it… Thank you, Bobby, for giving us a vehicle to help other people.  Your motivational presidency has inspired us to join you in trying to make the organization stronger and better. Bobby started with a core group of people that believed in him and his ideas for pushing the organization to new levels.  He pushed hard to remodel the lounge, which in turn brought in more people and more activities.  Bobby also believed that more members would also help with this new movement, so he went out and recruited new people.  I’m not sure of the actual count of new members that came in during Bobby’s presidency but I do know that we started seeing a lot of new faces at events and in the lounge. Bobby also made different changes as the bar steward, that helped the club.  For example he pushed for better TV’s and more options (to match the updated lounge atmosphere.)  We all know that it also takes a bit of money to keep an organization going.  One of Bobby’s greatest fundraising efforts was the calendar program.  We have raised tens of thousands of dollars for our charities and functions.  Also this money is used to send our delegates to the National and Sate conventions.  It’s amazing how much it costs to keep a charitable organization going.  Because of Bobby’s fundraising programs we have the resources to continue our work with our charities in the community. There are so many little things (many behind the scenes) that Bobby did to make things work well.  For all of those unknown efforts, I want to publicly thank him.  Bobby is also a great advisor and we look forward to his opinion and guidance going forward, especially with event planning.  His on-going tutelage is a testament to his dedication to the Hibernians.  Even now when he gets a chance to relax, he is still willing to help. So now you have heard a few things about Bobby the president.  I would also like to share with you a few things about Bobby Wallace my good friend of many years and how he lives our motto.   Friendship is an important part of our motto and because of Bobby is a part of many of our lives.  Being a member of this great organization has reintroduced me to what friendship is really all about.  I look out and see many brothers and sisters out there who have found long friendships while being Hibernian members.  Now I guess Bobby has helped me become one of the next generations in this long-standing camaraderie.  I welcome and am grateful for this.  Bobby and I would have been friends anyway but through the Hibernian organization we always find ways to keep working together.  It just takes us into the next phase of our lifetime friendship.   Bobby has helped us keep Unity as a strong core value.  He kept us focused on one direction, one purpose, and kept us moving forward.  There are so many, many, many moving parts to keeping our large organization moving as a unified one.  Sometimes Bobby made this look too easy, so the rest of us did not know what we were getting into! (Thanks again Bobby!)   Christian Charity is our final motto.  I talked before about Bobby’s charitable contributions for the Hibernians; but anyone that knows Bobby can also attest to all of his acts of charity in his own life. We have all seen what Bobby has done throughout his presidency.  We have watched in amazement as he accomplished all of these tasks while overcoming personal obstacles.  Even a heart attack could not stop Bobby from performing his duties as a father, AOH president, club steward, mailman, and Pipe and Drum Band drummer.  Bobby has marched with the Pipe and Drum band from Manchester, NH, in at least a dozen parades. I want to finish up tonight by saying, it has been an inspiring journey to witness Bobby’s Hibernian ideas coming through to reality.  I hope that I can continue that vision and the leadership that Bobby has demonstrated.  Bobby your leadership as AOH division 14 president been exemplary but your friendship is special and one of a kind.  Thank you!