Newsletter of the Pennsylvania Ladies Ancient Order Of Hibernians, Inc. Nancy Cullen, Vice-President. Dear Sisters,

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1 From Your State Officers Ellen McCrane, Secretary I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed time with your families. It is now the time for the dreaded annual reports. All membership files were sent to the secretaries at the end of November along with instructions for completing this year's report. There are very few changes from last year. If your division is part of a county board the due dates are as follows: Completed report sent electronically by Division Financial Secretary by 1/15/2012 to County Board Secretary Three hard copies in mail to County Board Secretary by 1/15/2012 County Board Secretary compiles division reports and sends combined reports electronically by 2/15/2012 to State SecretaryCounty Board Secretary sends two hard copies of combined county reports to State Secretary by 2/15/2012 If your division is NOT part of a county board structure the due dates are as follows: Completed report sent electronically by Division Financial Secretary by 1/15/2012 to State SecretaryTwo hard copies in mail to State Secretary by 1/15/201My address is e.mcrane@comcast.net and my mailing address is: 1004 Woodbourne Drive, Southampton, PA Newsletter of the Pennsylvania Ladies Ancient Order Of Hibernians, Inc Please me or call me at after 7 p.m. with any questions.may St. Brigid bless all of you in your efforts to get your reports in on time! Nancy Cullen, Vice-President Dear Sisters, Remember that the Junior Annual Reports now have the same deadlines January 15 for Division to County, February 15 County to State. Don t forget the jewelry sales. Please see the website for information and the order form. Shirley Murphy, Catholic Action Chair A reminder: Forms for the 2011 Catholic Action report are available on line at The Reports are due: To the County - January 15 To the State- February 15 Volume 1, Issue 2 January, 2012 Inside this issue: Imm. Past President Message Berks #1 Chester #1 Allegheny #21 Allegheny #11 Allegheny #11 (con t) Luzerne #1 Montgomery #2 Montgomery #3 Allegheny #4 Schuylkill County Board Philadelphia #39 7 Schuylkill #

2 Page 2 Colleen Bowers, Immediate Past President Dear Sisters, A copy of the new 2011 State By-Laws passed at our 2011 Convention will be mailed to all Divisions as soon as printing is complete. Please review any changes approved in order for you to have the current State By-Laws in effect. I have sent all who have ordered a copy of the 2011 Convention Proceedings. There are a number of Divisions/Counties that have not ordered a copy per our State By-Laws. This is a requirement per our By-Laws, Article IX Section 13.Proceedings Proceedings of the Convention shall be issued twelve (12) weeks following the close of the Convention. All Divisions shall be required to purchase a minimum of one (1) copy of Convention proceedings. Please me at bowers011@comcast.net to have an order form sent to you if you have not done so yet. In Our Motto, Colleen Bowers, Immediate Past President Berks Division #1 Chester Division #1 Berks #1 initiated a new member at their October meeting. From left, President Maryanne Welch; new member, Maureen Helms; and Vice-President, Betsy Paolini. The Chester Co. Division #1 members have been very busy this holiday season. Shopping!! The division provided a Thanksgiving dinner for a family though the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County, as well as Christmas presents for a family of three. The Division also participated in the West Chester Christmas Parade on Dec. 2 along with the AOH Wolf Tone Div. of Chester Co. It was a lovely night and a good chance to show off our new banner. On Dec. 11 our LAOH members had a Christmas meeting/party at Ryan s Pub in West Chester, which was enjoyed by all that could make it. We are looking forward to the Spring and all of our other activities especially our Tea. Right: Christmas Party Sarah Coffey, Mary Wilson, Barbara Bonini, Lorraine Courtney, Mary Kay McCann, Helene McEnhill, Noreen Crowley, Nancy Coyne, Rose Rouse, Trica Super and Judy Fitzpatrick. Above: Christmas Parade Barbara Bonini and Mary Kay McCann holding the banner in background Sarah Coffey, Judy Fitzpatrick, Nancy Coyne, Trica Super, Sheila Fredericks.

3 Volume 1, Issue 2 Allegheny Division #21 Page 3 Our division is doing well. We have 3 new applicants to be installed in January and our project is for each member to try to bring in one new member during the next year. Several sisters attended the Our Lady of Knock mass in August and four members were awarded a golden rose pin for their twenty years of service. We had our annual fund raiser on October 1st and it was a great success. We are planning a Christmas dinner at South Hills Country Club for December 13th and Past President Colleen Bowers is going to install our newly elected officers. The following sisters were elected and will serve a two year term: President, Eileen O'Malley; Vice President, Shannon Long; Secretary, Mary Ann Raymer; Treasurer, Elaine Richtar; Historian, Jean O'Malley; Missions & Charities, Eileen Bullister; Catholic Action, Peggy Bond; Mistress at Arms, Becky Ricci and Sentinel, Trish Conley. we are looking forward to a very productive year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. Jean O'Malley, Publicity Allegheny Division #11 Division 11 Oakland, Allegheny County, held their annual Halloween Party at the Grandview Social Club. Members dressed in costumes competed for prizes. The division has been sponsoring this party, chaired by Shirley Sestric, for several years and members are recognized for their innovative and excellent costumes. 1 Shirley Sestric with her Evil Twin 2 Division President Mary Lou Conroy as the Dough Boy 3 Maggie Cloonan as Pocahontas 4 Colleen Bowers as a Whoopee Cushion 5 Shelia Herward as a Witch

4 Page 4 Allegheny Division #11 (cont d) Division 11 Oakland, Allegheny County, held their annual Christmas Party on Saturday, December 10. At the party, awards were presented by Division President Mary Lou Conroy: Recognition Award was presented to Peggy Cooney, Pat Tragesser, and Maureen O Toole DeLong, pictured below. In addition, the St. Agnes Award was presented to Mary Ellen Myers. Luzerne Division #1 Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, St. John Neumann Division 1, Wilkes-Barre recently honored Maureen Lavelle on her election to the office of PA State President of the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians. In her honor, a $1, donation was made to the Catherine McAuley Center. Pictured, right, is Maureen Lavelle, LAOH PA State President and Sister Marie Larkin, PVBM, Director of McAuley Center and LAOH Pennsylvania State Chaplain. Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians, St. John Neumann Division 1, Wilkes-Barre participated in the Catherine McAuley House Adopt a Family Program. LAOH members donated towards the project and members, Mary Ann and Nancy Amesbury purchased and wrapped the gifts. Pictured prior to delivering the gifts are: Maggie Tudgay, Marie Herbert, Eileen Kenyon, Mary Ann Amesbury, Mary Ellen Dooley, LAOH State FFAI, Maureen Lavelle, LAOH PA State President, Sister Marie Larkin, PVBM, Director of McAuley Center and Sue Cosgrove, LAOH State Parliamentarian.

5 Volume 1, Issue 2 Montgomery Division #2 Page 5 Our sisters at Notre Dame are always working on ways to add to the coffers to help our charitable endeavors. Several activities were planned and carried out in the last six months: We had a very successful Yankee Candle sale again this year. At our Christmas dinner this year, Catholic Action will lead us in commemorating the Feast of the Holy Innocents, those male babies who were slaughtered by order of King Herod, so he would not lose his throne to a newborn King of the Jews. More details in the next state newsletter. Besides the Irish Cultural Luncheon in September, our very prosperous "Night of Irish Music" in November, was a big fund raiser for us. Many of our sisters joined together to make the Night of Irish Music the success that it was. Their efforts included food preparation and decorating the hall for all to get into the spirit of the night. The very enjoyable affair featured the music of Kim and Gerry Clark who set stories to music presenting their audience an opportunity to sing along and to dance. Their music celebrated our heritage and culture and gave us the chance to share the night with friends. Montgomery #3 Maire Drumm Greetings from LAOH Division 3 - Maire Drumm Montgomery County, PA! We have been busy since the PA State Convention in July. In October we participated in our 2nd Annual "Hibernians for Hemophilia" walk where we raised almost $3, for the cause. November marked our third year to"adopt" families for Thanksgiving and provide them with a complete Thanksgiving meal with all of the fixins! Most recently our Division helped out area families for Christmas by shopping to provide presents for the children and gift cards and meals for the families. We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! God Bless. In photo (l-r) Judy Meeks, Diane Curry, Megan Bethel, Jo-Ellen Roberts, and Eileen Hughes. A little get together after shopping and wrapping.

6 Page 6 Allegheny Division #4 St Brigid, Div #4, Allegheny County ad the 2nd Annual "A Classic Irish Christmas" featuring Andy Cooney, Kate Purcell, Comedian, George Casey, and the Darrah Carr Irish Dancers. What a wonderful evening of entertainment, to get everyone in the Holiday Spirit. Pictured; Back: Lynn OBrien, Darlene Schlanger, Kathy Coyne, Andy Cooney, Sue Donnelly, Colleen Rumble, Meghan Doyle, Diane Doyle, Marie Doyle. Front: Kathy Hoza, Marge Visokey and Marion O Brien. Happy New Year from your LAOH Sisters, Div #4 Schuylkill County Board The Schuylkill County Board held election of officers in November for and Installation of Officers was recently held. Front row, from left: Mary Frantz, Sentinel; Lydia Laughlin, President and Treasurer/ Betty Murphy, Secretary. Back row, from left: Rose Ann Petrusky, Mistress-At-Arms; Mary Ann Lubinsky, (PA Past Presdent, Webmaster/Publicity and Installing Officer), Catholic Action; Eileen Wayne, (Immediate Past President), Vice- President; Loretta Murphy-Birster, Irish Historian/Freedom for All Ireland; Danielle Pearce, Missions and Charities, Noreen O Boyle, Immigration and Legislation.

7 Page 7 Philadelphia Division #39 In the Fall of 2011, a few of our members attended a tour and mass at St. John Neumann s National Shrine in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia, PA. The Shrine is currently celebrating the 200 th anniversary of the birth of St. John Neumann. St. John is very dear to the hearts of Catholic Philadelphians, as St. John emigrated from current day Czech Republic, and settled in the Philadelphia area where he performed his works and the miracles that made him a Saint happened here. Our tour also included the upstairs church St. Peters (second picture) which was originally a German parish. The beautiful stained glass windows were brought over from the old country and are authentic Austrian crystal. We ended our trip by celebrating the noon time mass at the Shrine with other pilgrims who had come to the shrine for the day. It was a wonderful day. Special thanks to Kass Milligan, our Catholic Actions Officer who organized the tour. The next time you are in the Philadelphia area I highly recommend you come and visit the Shrine of St. John Neumann. We also visited St. Peter the Apostle Church.

8 Volume 1, Issue 2 Schuylkill Division #2 Page 8 On December 16, we celebrated Christmas and the division s 40th Anniversary with our AOH who celebrated their 45th Anniversary. In November, we had our Annual Communion Breakfast. Please see our website, for pictures of both events. This year, our Christmas Family was two of our own members who needed some help this year. We were so happy to be able to assist our own. Schuylkill County Division #2, Pottsville recently installed their officers for Front row from left: Mary Ann Lubinsky, (PA Past President/Webmaster/Publicity and Installing Officer), President; Lydia Laughlin, Vice- President; Betty Murphy, Irish Historian. Second row from left: Kim Norris, Missions and Charities; Rose Ann Petrusky, Treasurer; Kathy Valibus, Recording Secretary; Alberta Maurer, Financial Secretary; Noreen O Boyle, Immigration and Legislation. Missing from photo: Nancy Gallagher, Catholic Action; Lois Weiser, Mistress-At-Arms; Kandi Atkinson, Sentinel; Kathy McGowan, Freedom for All Ireland. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!