132 Commerce St PO Box 620 Glastonbury, CT 06033 Ph. (860) 633-9691

President’s Message

Dear Fellow Members, The Christmas Season is upon us and the year is fast drawing to a close. The approaching new year always beckons me, like many of us, to review the past year while looking forward to the new. 2014 was a whirlwind of activity at the Irish American Home Society, with so many changes to our facility and the addition of many new volunteers becoming active in this organization. I am truly grateful for the dedication of our members and the pride they have in their “home”. If you haven’t been by lately, stop in! In fact, we’re opening earlier during the week to make it easier to stop in for a cup of tea or a pint. Stop in to enjoy one of the many events happening over the next month or purchase some Irish goods in our buth bheag (little shop)! But do come by…you are missed! This month’s newsletter is full of events for the holiday season. I sincerely hope you make an effort to come by and enjoy one or more of these events. Our club prospers when our members actively participate! On behalf of the Officers and Directors, I wish you a Happy Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year.

May joy and peace surround you, contentment latch your door.

And happiness be with you now and bless you ever more.

Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Mhasie Daoibh!

(Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!) All the best,

Maureen A. Kennedy President

Irish American Home Society Inc.

DECEMBER NEWSLETTER

DECEMBER ENTERTAINMENT

December 5th - Dually Noted December 12th - The Brennan Brothers December 19th - Rural Legend December - 26th Billy Eagan and The Rising

PUB GRUB

Dec 5th - No pub grub Dec 12th - Clam strips Dec 19th - Grilled bacon chicken wraps Dec 26th - Tomato soup + Grilled cheese sandwich

Screening for new members will be held on Tuesday, December 9 , 2014, at 7:00 p.m. The Monthly Meeting will be held on Friday, December 12, 2014, at 8:00 p.m.

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MEMBER’S CHRISTMAS PARTY Please join your fellow members at our annual Member’s Christmas Party, on Friday, December 5

th at 6:00 p.m. in the

downstairs lounge. Enjoy a ham dinner with all the trimmings plus dessert. Reservations are required…no walk-ins will be accepted. Tickets are $5.00 for members and $10.00 for non-member guests (limit of one guest per member). You may make reservations and purchase your tickets at the bar or by contacting Cathy Barry (860)798-2731. Adults only, please! HOLIDAY FAIR Join us on Sunday, December 7

th for

our Holiday Fair (formerly known as Christmas Shopping Day). We begin the day with a traditional Irish Breakfast served downstairs from 9 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. The doors open for shopping at 10:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. Lunch will be served from 12:00 noon to 2:30 p.m. Visit the Club Booth where we will be selling all your favorite Irish foods in-cluding holiday candy and cookies. The Club will also have holiday wreaths, swags, table centerpieces, etc., for sale. Vendors and crafters are wel-come. Space rentals are $25 for mem-bers and $35 for non-members. Con-tact Kathy Saimininkas at dumpla-dykat@netscape.net to rent a space or for more information.

CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS PARTY

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA! Our annual Breakfast with Santa will be held on Sunday, December 14

th from

9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. We ask each child to bring a new, unwrapped toy for admission (please consider toys or gift cards for older children). There is a $5.00 charge for adults that wish to dine with their children (pancakes and sau-sage breakfast). A photographer will be on hand to capture your child’s moment with Santa. RESERVATIONS ARE A MUST (we want to ensure we have enough crafts and food on hand). Res-ervations can be made by contacting Sarah Moran at sa-rahmoran71@gmail.com or by calling the club at (860)633-9691. Please in-clude the number of children attending, along with the number of adults attend-ing that plan to dine with their children. If you need to reserve a table for your group, please note that, too.

PLEASE NOTE: The club will be open on Christmas Eve from 12 noon until 4:00 p.m. Also there will be NO Sunday Funday Menu served on De-

cember 21st.

Hartford GAA presents… AN IRISH NEW YEAR’S EVE FAMILY

CELEBRATION Come ring in the New Year on Irish Time! This is a family fun event featuring a DJ, games and refreshments from 5 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, December 31

st, in the Up-

stairs Hall. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Bring a dessert to share for the Dessert Table. First come, first served for tables. The cost is $7.00 for kids and $10 for adults. Fami-lies of 4 or more $30.00. For more infor-mation, please contact Stephen Miskell (860)478-2052 or galwaytiling-llc@yahoo.com.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME GOT YOU DOWN?

Well we have some good news for you! THE CLUB IS CHANGING OUR HOURS in an effort to help you combat those win-tertime blues! We now open at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday (weekend hours remain the same) so you can enjoy your club for a few hours before darkness falls! Stop in, enjoy a cuppa or a pint…buy a few of your favorite Irish jams and teas in our buth bheag (little shop) and enjoy a chat with friends old and new! Come spring, if these extended hours prove popular enough, we might just make them perma-nent! So come on down and enjoy your club! Membership renewals will be available at the club every Friday evening in Decem-ber! In an effort to save on postage, our Membership Secretaries will be on hand to assist you in renewing your membership for 2015. Single renewals are $70.00 and married couples are $110.00. Membership renewals make the perfect Christmas gift…please contact Kathy Saimininkas or Kelley McElroy to make arrangements. Any re-newals that are not picked up will be mailed in early January. Membership dues must be paid in full by March 31, 2015 in order to remain a member in good standing . This and that… On November 12

th I attended an event held

by the Connecticut Airport Authority, which oversees Bradley International Airport. Ap-parently Aer Lingus is seriously considering transatlantic service from Hartford direct to Dublin beginning in 2016 and met with the local business community to assess the viability of such service. The Executive Director of the CAA wanted representation from the Irish community and reached out to me.

Director Stephen Miskell attended the reception with me and we had the oppor-tunity to speak with Stephen Kavanagh, the Chief Strategy and Planning Officer for Aer Lingus. We implored him not to discount the importance and economic relevance of the travel and leisure sector of airline customers. We discussed the challenges of flying from the airports that offer service to Ireland (Boston, JFK and Newark). This is exciting news for our members, many of whom travel back to Ireland frequently. So stay tuned and maybe say a little prayer that Aer Lingus looks kindly on Hartford! We have many events occurring this month and a few of them require reserva-tions. If you plan to attend the events that require a reservation, please make sure to respond. We only request res-ervations when we need to purchase food and/or supplies and plan seating. We want to ensure that we are prepared and do not run out of anything. It broke my heart at the Children’s Halloween Party that we didn’t have enough crafts for all of the children because some families never called ahead. Even sadder was that some of the kids whose families DID CALL missed out on the crafts because they were all gone before they arrived. I know we could simply buy a lot of extra crafts…but the simple truth is that we are trying to save money wherever possible. Purchasing extra inventory of any kind is not part of our strategic plan. Even worse is to run out of food…and we had to scramble during the party to purchase additional cupcakes. So please…I im-plore you…just make the call! We would be very grateful! I am happy to report that the renovations of the restrooms off the pub are finally complete! In case you missed it, Director Stephen Miskell, owner of Galway Tiling, LLC, offered his skills to re-tile both re-strooms…no charge for his labor. The club only paid for the materials. Stephen also had his brother, Dave, plaster over the cinderblock walls at no charge to the club. In addition to the gorgeous tiles and walls, we installed granite countertops, new mirrors and lighting in the ladies re-stroom. Stephen and Rich Christ built the beautiful wood vanities. The following members helped with the painting; instal-lation of the stalls; cleaning and restoring the wood doors, hanging mirrors and all the finishing touches: Cathy Barry, Karen and Rick Breen, Terry Devanney, Jenn Hedges, Colleen Kissane, Eileen Moore, Dan O’Connell and Kathy Saimininkas.

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2012 - 2013

IAHS Officers & Board of Directors President

Maureen Kennedy 860-550-3126

president@irishamericanhome.com Vice President

Sheila Dupuis Green 860-633-1883

sheiladupuis123@gmail.com Recording Secretary

Eileen K. Moore 860-977-9700

Ekmoore1@yahoo.com Treasurer

Colleen Kissane 860-614-6440

cakissane@comcast.net Financial Secretary

Liz Saunders 860-951-5269

lizsaunders@comcast.net Membership Secretary

Kathy Saimininkas 860-895-8711

membership@irishmaericanhome.com Assistant Membership Secretary

Kelley McElroy Corresponding Secretary

Maura O’Donnell 860-657-9950

Sergeant at Arms Jeffrey Reynolds

Board of Directors Peter Hart

860-568-0628 p.c.hart@comcast.net

Dan Ustach Eileen McGee 860-550-3732

Eileen_mcgee@comcast.net Pat Whelan

860-573-3884 Stephen Miskell 860-478-2052

stephenmiskell@yahoo.com Permitee

Dan O’Connell 860-633-9691

GOOD & WELFARE If you know of any member who

is ill, in the hospital, or has

passed away, give Margaret

Moriarty a call (860-563-0804)

or email at jandm85@cox.net so

that an appropriate remem-

brance may be sent on behalf of

the membership. If you have

good news to share with the

membership, i.e. birth, gradua-

tion, promotion, etc., please

send the information, to be pub-

lished in a future newsletter, to

newslet-

ter@irishamericanhome.com

HALL RENTALS The Upstairs Hall and Lower

Hall are available to rent for

parties and gatherings.

Please call Dan O’Connell for

availability and pricing. 860-633-

9691

Need a gift idea for the person that has everything??

How about Irish American Home Society gift cer-tificates!!! One size fits all! It’s the perfect gift for all ages! Gift certificates can be used in the pub, to purchase Irish goods and at Pub Grub on Fri-day evenings! They come in $25 and $50 incre-ments and have no expiration date! Please see

your bartender to purchase! (If you thought the Gift Certificate was a great

idea….check this one out!)

On sale now…THE ALL-IRELAND CHAMPION-SHIP SEASON PASS!! We kid you not! We’re giving our members the opportunity to buy their Season Pass now at the bargain price of $250.00! That’s all the hurling and Gaelic foot-ball games all season long for one low price! Even better…this is the Christmas gift that keeps on giving! What could be grander than the look of delight on that rabid sports fan’s face on Christmas morn? C’mon…get your family to-gether and chip in for the BEST PRESENT EV-ER!! Don’t miss out! Get yours today! Ask your bartender!

SUNDAY FUNDAY! Join your friends at the IAHS for Sunday football with the NFL TICKET! That’s right…we have THE TICKET and will be offering a weekly lunch special served from 1 to 4 p.m. every Sun-day afternoon! So stop by for some great foot-ball, great food and great craic! Watch the web-site and Facebook for notice of the specials and we’ll be posting them inside the club!

WINTER STORM CLOSING INFORMATION The winter season is upon us and with that brings the eventuality of ice, snow and wintry mix. The Irish American Home Society will do its best to remain open during inclement weather but will close if conditions warrant. Closing infor-mation may be found on our website and the fol-lowing TV stations: WFSB Channel 3, WVIT Channel 30 and WTNH Channel 8. We ask that you refrain from parking in our lot during snow storms so that snow removal may be done as quickly and completely as possible. If we need a plow to return to re-plow where a car sat during a storm, we pay additional snow removal costs. Thank you!!

WEEKLY CARD GAME

Enjoy playing cards? Every Thursday evening at 7 p.m. in the downstairs lounge, members and guests

are invited to join in a friendly game of Setback. .

HONOR GUARD

It is this Society’s tradition to honor our de-ceased members by the presence of an Hon-or Guard at the funeral service and interment. While we have several dedicated members who faithfully participate in this tradition, we

would like to ensure a full complement at each service. If you are interested in partici-pating when the need arises, please contact

Anne Marie McKinstry at (860)875-8278 to be included in the contact list.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians Division #2 and Ladies AOH meets on the first Friday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the Downstairs Lounge. The AOH is an Irish Catholic organi-zation that promotes and encourages partici-pation in our religion, charity and Irish culture, following the motto, “In Friendship, Unity and Christian Charity”. For more information con-tact Jamie Forzono at (860)604-3021.

IRISH SET DANCE CLASSES Traditional Irish country set dancing classes are held in the upstairs hall on Wednesday evenings (except the fourth Wednesday of each month). This is a cultural function of the Irish American Home Society and there is no charge. The only requirements are hard-soled shoes and a little stamina! Classes begin at 7:00 p.m. For more information, please call John Droney (860)521-2696. Newsletter deadline is the 15th of the month for inclusion in the next month’s edition. Send contributions, in WORD FORMAT, to newslet-ter@irishamericanhome.com.

IRISH NORTHERN AID The Hartford Unit of Irish Northern Aid meets the 3rd Friday of every month at 8:00 p.m. in

the downstairs hall of the Irish American Home. Since 1970, the Irish Northern Aid

Committee has been at the forefront in sup-port of the struggle for freedom, justice, and

self-determination for all the people of Ireland. For more information, please contact Tom

McBride (860)983-0846.

SEISIUN Every 1st and 3rd Sundays Live traditional Irish music continues on the first and third Sundays of each month at the Irish American Home Society, from 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Come join the singers and musi-cians at this open seisiun. Listen or play along with the lively jigs and reels…sing a song if you’re so inclined…or simply relax and enjoy the music of Ireland. A slow music seis-iun is held on the third Sunday between 3 and 4 p.m. This is an opportunity for new or aspir-ing musicians to learn Irish music. For more information, contact Liz Raymond (860)346-3235.

SYMPATHY IS EXTENDED TO

THE FAMILY & FRIENDS OF : Gerry Beaudoin, Bob Smith , Mary

Yourell , Sandra Stack

GET WELL WISHES TO: Sr. Marion Raymond

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MOVING?

Send us your new address

(include current address label)

Effective __________________

IRISH AMERICAN HOME SOCIETY INC. 132 Commerce Street / P.O. Box 620

Glastonbury, Connecticut 06033

Presorted Standard

US Postage Paid

Global Mail Express

06033

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1

Pipe Band

Club Closed

2

3

Set Dancing

Upstairs

4

5 AOH MEETING 7:30

Member’s Christmas

Party 6:00 p.m

6

7 SEISUIN

4-6 P.M

NFL FOOTBALL TICKET

(LUNCH 1-4)

Holiday Fair 10:00 to 4:00

8

Pipe Band

Club Closed

9 New Member Screening

7:00P.M.

Board of Directors

Meeting

8:00P.M

10

Set Dancing

Upstairs

11

Setback Downstairs

12 MONTHLY

MEETING

8:00 P.M

PUB GRUB

6-8:30 P.M

13

14

NFL FOOTBALL TICKET

(LUNCH 1-4)

Children’s Christmas Party

9-11:00 a.m.

15 Pipe Band

Club Closed

16

17 Set Dancing

Upstairs

18

Setback Downstairs

19 PUB GRUB

6-8:30 P.M

UGLY CHRISTMAS

SWEATER CONTEST

20

21 SEISUIN

3-6 P.M NFL FOOTBALL TICKET

( NO LUNCH )

22

Pipe Band

Club Closed

23 24

Set Dancing

Upstairs

Christmas Eve

Club open 12 – 4:00 p.m.

25

Merry Christmas

(Club Closed)

26

PUB GRUB

6-8:30 P.M

27

28 NFL FOOTBALL TICKET

(LUNCH 1-4)

29

Pipe Band

Club Closed

30

31

GAA Family New Year’s

Eve Party 5-8 p.m.

DECEMBER