SunBird Irish Club

Mary Pilon, Publicity

Faith and begorrah! It’s nearly Christmas, and another year will be history soon. Time flies.

The Irish club held its November meeting in the ballroom with President Val opening the gathering by leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance. The Treasurer’s Report was given by Boston Mary, and the minutes of October’s meeting were approved.

Memberships are now filled for this season; however, there will be a sign-up sheet if anyone wants to join when there is an opening. Committee chairmen reported. Mel is still in charge of the shirts, and he is taking orders for them, and also sweatshirts and hats.

Sally, our entertainment chairwoman, gave information on the annual trip to Laughlin, which will be the last week of February. We will be staying at the Riverside. Anyone who is interested in this fun trip needs to sign up. It’s always a super time. The cost is $132 per couple.

Plans are in place for our Christmas dinner/party on Dec. 14 at 4 p.m. at Sun Lakes. Jamal will be asked to be the DJ. The menu will be a choice of chicken cordon bleu, salmon, or braised beef, along with salad, scalloped potatoes, and a veggie. The cost is $25 per person. (I think the dinner will be in Sun Lakes Phase 1.)

The Christmas Toy Drive will be held on Dec. 13, the day before our Christmas party. We are asked to bring new, unwrapped gifts for the students at Hartford School, ages 6-14. Each year we are proud to announce that a huge number of toys for these children is always collected.

For the past several years, we also collected white socks for the homeless. Yours truly will be happy to collect these socks and distribute them. Please limit your choice of socks to crew socks. Ankle- or knee-length socks are fine, but they really need the crew-length socks. We also will collect food for the food bank, and also travel-size soaps, shampoo, toothpaste, etc.

President Val asked for volunteers for the positions of secretary and vice president for 2023. If interested, please call Boston Mary or Val.

A sign-up sheet was passed around for tentative outings during the season: horse races, dinner shows, trip to San Xavier Mission, Verde Canyon train trip.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m., followed by a great feast of fried chicken, potato salad, coleslaw, and, oh boy, cheesecake! What a great treat.

A great shoutout to President Val and Treasurer (Boston) Mary Albrandi for their efforts and all the time spent on making our Irish Club such a great group. Again, let’s give them some support and select a new VP and secretary.

PS: The 50/50 and Dollar games were both played, both won (I won nothing, as usual), but I’m sorry I didn’t get any names of the winners. Thanks to George for selling the tickets for the 50/50.

I have no jokes this time, but I found an article that was really beautiful. It reads:

An old Irish Christmas tradition that is still commonly practiced is leaving a lit candle in the window of one’s home on Christmas Eve. This tradition has several meanings, from the welcoming of Mary and Joseph to a symbol of Catholic community to a general offering of support for weary travelers on the road. Beautiful.

Have a wonderful holiday season, a blessed and happy Christmas, and best wishes for a prosperous 2023.