A Letter from the President
It is with deep sadness that once again the Emerald Society Bagpipes and Drums of the Chicago Police Department were called on to play an Honors Funeral. On Wednesday, July 2nd 2008, Chicago Police Officer Richard M. Francis, of the 019th dist, responded to a disturbance on a CTA bus and encountered an irate woman. During a struggle with the subject, Officer Francis was fatally shot. Please remember the family of Officer Francis in your prayers.
Unfortunately, there is more sad news. Mike Murphy, who was a member of the Larkin and Moran Brothers Band was tragically killed by a hit and run driver on Saturday June 7th 2008. The driver of the van that hit him was arrested and charged days later. The Larkin and Moran Brothers Band was scheduled to play the Rib Fest which was held on Monday June 9th at the FOP Hall. Mike had a huge sendoff and appropriately,
Bruce Quintos of the Emerald Society Pipes and Drums, played at his Funeral. Please remember Mike Murphy, his fiancé and family in your prayers.The Rib Fest went on with the thought that there was something missing. Our thanks go out to Chefs
Toolis, Cody and all those who assisted with the food preparation. The ribs were absolutely delicious! I would also like to thank the board members who assisted at the meeting and the members and their guest for attending.The golf outing was held on Monday July 7th and was well attended. I would like to send my personal thanks to our sponsors and those who attended. I would also like to thank the board members who assisted in securing raffle prizes or hole sponsorships. Without the raffle prizes and hole sponsorships the outing would not have been as successful. We would also like to thank Greg Shields for his generous donation to the beverage cart. A check for the building fund will be presented to the Emerald Society at a future meeting.
The picnic had a new venue this year due to the construction at Lions Woods. It was held at Dam #4 in Park Ridge. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend due to a prior commitment. First Vice-President
Debbie O’Connor-Dimaggio stepped up and enlisted the help of Past Presidents Tom Cody, Mike Flannery, Bill Moriarty and Rick Toolis. I would like to personally thank Debbie for doing a great job along with the other board members and volunteers. Without their support and the attendance of members and their families the event would not have been successful. We had a split the pot raffle and also gave out several cases of beer. In lieu of awarding bicycles and helmets, two $75.00 gift certificates for Target were raffled off for the children. We also had a beanbag tournament and the winning team was awarded a Jagermeister beanbag set. A special thanks to Debbie Trainor for coordinating the event.Some of our future events coming up are the scholarship drawing, the Dinner Dance and Turkey Raffle. We need our members, family and friends to support the upcoming events. How can I support, you ask? Number one by attending the events! Ensure that you are a member in good standing. Buy an ad in the Dinner Dance ad book or make a donation in lieu of buying a ticket. Buy or sell all of your Turkey Raffle tickets! The proceeds from the Turkey Raffle are what funds the Scholarship drawing, not your dues or other events, solely the turkey raffle tickets.
The honorees have made sacrifices in their lives to make our lives better. Please show your support to them! We will also be awarding an additional $500.00 scholarship at the Dinner Dance. See the scholarship information inside.
I will close with a quote from the book by the late Tim Russert of “Meet the Press.”
“What a club this would be if every member would try to do only half of what they expect other members to do.”Is mise le meas,
Patrick J. Moriarty
President
The annual scholarship meeting will be held on Monday September 8th at 7 p.m. at Assumption Church. We will be serving corned beef and cabbage and celebrating half way to St. Patrick’s Day. We will be drawing five, $500.00 scholarships for the children of our members who attend a private school or any college. To be eligible for the drawing you must be a member in good standing for the current year and the last three consecutive years. An insert with an application has been included in the newsletter. If you feel that you are eligible and did not receive an insert please contact Jim McCarthy at 847-336-6939. We will also have a drawing for a $500.00 scholarship at the Dinner Dance.
To be eligible, you must meet the criteria above and the member or spouse must attend the dinner dance.The 2008 Dinner Dance will be held on Friday, September 26, 2008 at the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza, located at 350 N. Orleans. Cocktails will be served at 6:30 p.m. and dinner at 7:30 p.m. This year’s recipient of “Irishman of the Year” award will be
William “Bill” Gainer of Gainer Consulting. “Police Officers of the Year” awards will go to P.O. John Fitzgerald, Chicago Police Department, P.O. Rick Trafton, Joliet Police Department and P.O. John Shortall, Chicago Police Department. Entertainment will include our very own Bagpipes and Drums of the Emerald Society, Chicago Police Dept, traditional Irish Dancers and music for your dancing pleasure. We will have ticket and ad book information available on the website. Feel free to download the cover letter, ad book blank and make copies of the information to give to anyone who might be interested in attending or advertising in the ad book. Our special raffle will be drawn and the lucky winners will be announced at this event.Online Reservation Form (PDF) Announcement Letter (PDF) Ad-Book Order Form (PDF)
Online Reservation Form (as part of this newsletter in HTML)
The October meeting will be held on Monday October 6th due to the observance of Columbus Day. The meeting will be held at the FOP hall located at 1412 W. Washington Blvd. in Chicago, IL at 7 p.m. We will be serving plenty of sausage and other German delights. We will also have live music for your listing and dancing pleasure.
November Turkey Raffle Meeting
The November meeting will be held on Monday November 3rd at 7 p.m. and will be held at Assumption Church. The reason for the date change is due to the church’s annual dinner. We will be serving a full turkey dinner. The drawing for twenty $25.00 gift certificates for Jewel or Dominick’s will be awarded at the meeting along with the cash prizes.
Children's Christmas Party & December Meeting
The children’s Christmas party will be held on Saturday Dec 13th. The meeting will be at Assumption Church at noon. We will be serving lunch for the children at the meeting. We hope to have Kevin Berrys train display and, of course, Kathy Ebeling and her elves will provide arts and crafts for the children. We have been in correspondence with the North Pole and hope to have a confirmation that Santa Claus will pay us a visit.
April Meeting
We would like to make the April meeting our “traveling meeting.”
We hope to hold the meeting at various locations throughout the Chicagoland
area. Anyone who has ideas for the location or if you or your department are
interested in hosting the meeting contact Patrick Moriarty at 
.
We have tickets for our “Special Raffle” that will be drawn at
the dinner dance on Friday, September 26th. We will only sell 400 tickets and
will be giving away a total of $20,000 in prizes. The Grand Prize will be
$10,000!!!! First place will be $5000, second $2000, third $1500, fourth and
fifth $500. The price of the raffle ticket is $100.00. Please contact any board
member as soon as possible if you or someone you know may be interested in
tickets. With the limited amount of tickets being sold, be sure to get you
ticket before they are sold out. We will also have tickets available on a first
come, first serve basis at all of our events and meetings. If anyone is
interested in selling tickets, we will be awarding cash prizes to the person who
sells the most tickets. You can contact Patrick Moriarty at
or Debbie O’Connor–Dimaggio at 
.
E-Mail Addresses
The Emerald Society is in the process of obtaining e-mail
addresses of our members. It is our goal to reduce the number of newsletters
sent by U.S. Mail. This will not only reduce the cost of postage but also the
numbers of newsletters printed. Please send your e-mail address to
and put e-mail in the subject. Remember, it will be
YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to keep us up-to-date on your e-mail address. You can always
get the latest newsletter on our web-site at emeraldsocietyofillinois.org.
We also hope to get our website updated.
Emerald Society Apparel
We would like to remind all of our members that when they are wearing Emerald Society apparel that they are representing the Emerald Society of Illinois. Members are not allowed to reproduce or design ANY apparel without the expressed written consent of the Emerald Society of Illinois.
Condolence
We would like to send our condolences to Board Member
Kevin Myron (CPD) and his family on the loss of his son-in-law Donald Pizur. Our condolences also go to the following members: Terrance Meehan (CCSD) and his family on the loss of his father, retired Chicago Police Sergeant Eugene Meehan. Ray Haran (CPD) on the loss of his father, retired Chicago Police officer Jack Haran and John McDonald (CPD) on the loss of his mother. Please keep them and their families in your thoughts and prayers.Recovering Members
Please keep the following members who are home recuperating in your prayers:
Tim Burns (CCSD) and Bill Whelehan (CPD). Tim and Bill are both on the board and are sorely missed. We hope to see them up and around for the September meeting or dinner dance.Membership Drive
We are asking members to look for officers of Irish descent who may be interested in becoming members of our organization. If the officer is a PPO who has less the 18 months on the job we will waive their dues. We are also seeking officers who may have several years on the job and have not had a chance to become a member. The 2008 dues for any new applicant will be $15.00. Currently the annual dues are $30.00.
Friday September 26, 2008
Holiday Inn Mart Plaza
350 North Orleans – 14th Floor
Chicago, IL
Cocktails: 6:30 PM
Dinner: 7:30 PM
Honoring
Irish Man of the Year
William (Bill) Gainer
Gainer Consulting
&
Police Officers of the Year
P.O. Rick Trafton, Joliet Police Department
P.O. John Fitzgerald, 23rd District of the Chicago Police Dept.
P.O. John Shortall, 23rd District of the Chicago Police Dept.
Please make checks payable to:
Emerald Society of Illinois
P.O. Box 557819
Chicago, IL 60655-7819
Attn: Debbie O’Connor-Dimaggio
For questions please call Debbie Dimaggio at 312-745-5420
Please mail reservation form by September 16, 2008
______ Table(s) @ $750.00 per table (seats 10)
______ Ticket(s) @ $75.00 per person
Tickets will be held at the door.
Parking is included in your ticket price – Only "Self-Parking" is included, not valet.
Name:___________________________________________________________________________
Company:________________________________________________________________________
Address:_________________________________________________________________________
City:___________________________________________State:______________Zip:____________
Daytime Phone:____________________________________________________________________
Rooms are available at the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza for $ 165.00 plus tax per night. For reservations call 312-836-5000.
2008 DUES RENEWAL (ONLINE FORM)
CHECK YOUR EXPIRATION DATE ON THE MAILING LABEL. IF IT DOES NOT SAY 2008 YOU ARE NOT PAID UP AND MAY BE DENIED ENTRY TO AN EVENT OR MEETING.
2008 Meeting Dates (ONLINE EVENT CALENDAR)
ARCHIVE OF PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS (NEW)
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This page was last edited on 08/27/2008.
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