Ancient Order of Hibernians 

Fr. Emmanuel Hourihan Division 4 Orange County,

Middletown New York

                                           Fr. Emmanuel Hourihan AOH Division 4                                                     

June Newsletter - Summer 2021

National, State and County News

Cead Mile Failte! A Hundred Thousand Welcomes!

AOH Division 4's next meeting will be announced by email  and will take place at 7:00 pm at the Dikeman Engine & Hose Company in Goshen on September 10th.

2021 AOH Division 4 Officers:

President - John M Carey,  Vice President - Ronald Heppes, Financial Secretary - Edmund Burke, Recording Secretary - Thomas B. Quinn, Treasurer - James O'Malley, Standing Committee Chairman - Patrick McKernan, Marshal - Robert Heppes, Sentinel - Open

                                                  

2021 Membership Dues
Membership dues in the amount of $30.00 are now Payable for 2021. Remittances may be made at the Meetings, or directly to The Financial Secretary:
Edmund T. Burke
7 Gardner Avenue
Middletown NY 10940

AOH Division 4 News - Brother James O'Malley has been selected by the Division's membership to represent AOH Orange County as an Aide to the Grand Marshal in the 2020 New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade. Congratulations Jim! Brother Jim has been a very active member since joining the Division, and he is always willing to help and lend a hand when needed. Jim is the Division's Treasurer as well as treasurer for the Mid-Hudson St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee. His career was in the banking industry. Currently Jim works as a proctor at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Middletown, and as a supervisor of Army West Point Sporting and Cultural Events. Jim and his wife Jane have been married for 40 years. Jane works as a nurse at Orange Regional Medical Center. They reside in the Town of Wallkill. Jim represented the Division as aide to the Mid-Hudson St. Patrick's Day Parade held in Goshen in 2019. You will find a complete bio' of Jim on this website by going to the Members page. 

Congratulations to Division 4's Brother Eugene Heppes who was selected by AOH Division 4 at the November meeting to represent us in the 2020 Mid-Hudson St. Patrick's Day Parade as an Aide to the Grand Marshal Kevin Cummings. His name was submitted to the Mid-Hudson St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee at their November meeting. Eugene's brother Division 4's Robert (Bobby Heppes) has been selected by Irish Festival Committee as an aide. The Grand Marshal Installation ceremony will be held on Sunday, December 8th at Joseph Duelk Jr. AOH Division 1 Hibernian Hall at 1pm. Music will be provided by Paul Cray. 

Congratulations go out to Kevin Cummings of Fr. Donald Whelan AOH Division 2. He has been selected as the 2020 Grand Marshal by the Mid-Hudson St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee and will lead us in the Goshen, NY parade. Kevin is a past president of AOH Division 2 Cornwall as well as NYS AOH Webmaster, and AOH State Organizer. Brother Kevin is also a Piper in the Hudson Valley Pipe and Drums. Kevin and his wife Rose Marie are the proud parents of three children Sean, Logan and Rebecca Ann and granddaughter Mia Rose. Kevin will be joined the day of the parade at the head of the line of march by his son Sean Patrick who has been selected by Division 2 to be the aide to the Grand Marshal- his Dad -in the parade. Kevin's complete and very impressive bio' will be posted on the County website. Installation of the grand marshal and his aides will be posted shortly. The installation will take place at AOH Joseph Duelk Jr. Division Hibernian Hall on Sunday, December 8th. Festivities usually begin at1pm. 

Orange County Board officers for 2019-20 are as follows: President Edmond Burke, Vice Pres. Michael O'Keefe, Financial Secretary Neil O'Riodain, Treasurer Jack Graham, Standing Committee Chairman Ronald Joseph Heppes, Marshal John Greehy, Sentinel Kevin Dooner, Recording Secretary William Kirnan. They were elected at the May18th meeting. Congratulations to our newly elected Brothers! 

Irish Day sponsored by the Mid- Hudson St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee took place on Sunday, October 20th in Washingtonville, NY at Our Lady of Lourdes Knights of Columbus.  It was well attended. The food, entertainment and the camaraderie was great. A big Thank You goes out to all the Volunteers who helped with the setting up of the hall and the cooking, cleanup and other various duties necessary to ensure success of the event. Brother Ed Burke and I joined other Brothers from the other Divisions as well as the LAOH in peeling the potatoes for the event. Brother Ed was by far and away a champion potato peeler. No one else was in his league. Many hands made for light work! Paul Cray, Pipers and the Irish Step Dancers provided plenty of entertainment. Unfortunately, Chris Turpin had to cancel his musical set due to a case of laryngitis. Jane O'Malley, wife of Brother Jim O'Malley, won the First prize Raffle of $1000 cash. 

Newly elected officers for the Mid-Hudson St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee are:  President Kevin Strommer, Treasurer James O'Malley, Financial Secretary Oona Theresa and Recording Secretary William Kirnan. Congratulations to all!

AOH Joseph Duelk Jr. Division1 held its 50th Anniversary Dinner on Sunday, November 17 at the Otterkill Country Club. Entertainment was provided by the Chris Turpin Band. It was also the celebration of the10 year anniversary celebration of the Ladies AOH Division Mary of the Gael. AOH Joseph Duelk Jr. Division1 awards was given to Denis Mulchahy. Denis received a Humanitarian Award for his work with Project Children. The Division selected Tommy Flynn as the Hibernian of the last ten years. Congratulations to both AOH Brothers for their outstanding work as Hibernians. Congratulations to Denis and Tommy! LAOH Division 5 honored Briege DeBold as the LAOH Hibernian of the decade! Ellen Gertzkis was awarded LAOH 5's Humanitarian Award. Congratulations to Briege and Ellen!

The Fr. Emmanuel Hourihan O.Carm. AOH Division 4 is an Irish Catholic men's organization. In order to be considered for membership you must be a practicing Catholic and be able to claim a bit of Irish ancestry through either parent. Our members belong to several parishes throughout Orange County. During the month of September, we recruited for new members via parish bulletins. We will renew efforts to do so in the upcoming year especially during the months preceding St. Patrick's Day. The motto of our fraternal organization is Friendship, Unity and Christian Charity. Recruiting new members via family, friends, coworkers and fellow parishioners are the ways we have recruited in the past. Recently though some of our newest members have come to us from the National and New York State AOH organizer Kevin Cummings of AOH Division 2.

AOH Joseph Duelk Jr. Division1 Monroe is in the process of recruiting Catholic young men ages 8-15 to form an AOH Junior Boy's Division. This Division is called the Louis Allen Division. AOH Division 1 President Thomas Flynn and Orange County Board President Thomas McDonald have contacted John S. Burke CHS to attract young men attending there to consider joining an AOH Junior Boy's Division. If you have family members or know someone who would be likely and deserving candidates, please have them contact me and I will obtain the pertinent information and put them in contact with Brother Tom Flynn and /or Brother Tom McDonald.                                             

1st Lieutenant Louis Allen of the 42nd Infantry Division of NY Army National Guard was mortally wounded by a claymore mine in Iraq and died on June 8, 2005. He was a Physics and Earth Science teacher at George S. Baker High School in Tuxedo. He lived with his wife Barbara and their 4 boys in Milford, Pennsylvania. His Gold Star parents are Bob and Vivian Allen of Chester. Bob is an AOH Division 1 member. Lieutenant Louis Allen's death and the death of a fellow officer are tragic in that they were caused by the cowardly actions of a soldier in his command. That soldier who was accused and essentially admitted to his cowardly act, recently died in the state of Florida.

Brothers this is the last newsletter for 2019. I will be resigning as Division 4 president effective December 7, 2019. My wife Mary and I will be moving to St, Augustine, Florida. It has been my honor to serve as your president for the last several years, and I am most grateful for your confidence shown in me by electing me to this office. Over the years, we have worked together on fundraising through St. Patrick’s Day Dances, golf tournaments, selling chances and raffles in striving to reach our Division’s goals. Donation to worthy causes and events as well as educating the community as to the many contributions of Irish Americans to this country throughout its history, are just some of the goals we have worked on together through the years. I know that these will continue to be goals of the Division going forward. In closing, my prayers and thoughts will always be with my Division 4 Brothers. I will miss you Brothers and all the camaraderie, laughter as well as the commitment we’ve shared to the ideals of the Ancient Order of Hibernians Division 4.     

Keep all our Brothers and their families in your prayers. In Friendship, Unity & Christian Charity- Kevin Dooner

"May the strength of God pilot us,
May the wisdom of God instruct us,
May the hand of God protect us,
May the Word of God direct us,
Be Always ours this day and for evermore." St. Patrick