I drove through Long Beach, Long Island, in mid-January and it was clear that residents and businesses are still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Sandy. I’m sure it’s the same in the other Long Island communities like East Rockaway, Point Lookout, Oceanside, Island Park, also the Rockaways, Staten Island, and the hard-hit areas of New Jersey and Connecticut.
It makes me so proud to be a Hibernian when I see division members and officers, county officers and state officers drive sometimes hundreds of miles to help fellow Hibernians in such need. Thanks to your donations, our national board’s relief fund is a Godsend to many families who are still struggling just to have decent shelter and the basic necessities. It is also so wonderful that brothers came to those areas with strong backs and helpful hearts. This was hard labor to help homeowners rip out sheetrock and clean homes, but Hibernians demonstrated all three dimensions of our motto by giving up their own time to travel in some cases long distances to help their brother and sister members of the Order.
God bless the Hibernians who have contributed in whatever way they are able to help their fellow members of the Order.
Deadlines
For all those national officers, state presidents and others who want to submit articles to the Digest, here are the general deadlines for getting your copy and high-quality photos to me: I need your submissions no later than the first of the first month of each issue. For example, Jan. 1 for the Jan-Feb issue, May 1 for the May-June issue, Nov. 1 for the Nov-Dec issue. There are two exceptions: The deadline for the March-April issue will be immediately after St. Patrick’s Day; and the deadline for the July-Aug issue is right after your conventions. Otherwise, St. Patrick’s Day events would be seen in June (too late!) and convention news wouldn’t be read until October! So the March-April deadline is March 22 and the July-Aug deadline is 19. Any questions, just email me at editorhiberniandigest@yahoo.com.
Digest volunteers
My fellow Nassau County Division 8 brother, Robert Lynch, is the new assistant editor with responsibility for the online version of the Hibernian Digest. His email address is anpiobaire@aol.com. The former online Digest assistant editor, Joe McDonald, was appointed by President Brendan Moore to be the National Webmaster, so I’ve asked Bob Lynch to replace Joe on the “Digital Digest.” Don’t send any online Digest inquiries to Joe anymore; he has enough to do with the national and New York state websites — and doing a fabulous job at it! All questions and submissions for our digital Digest should still go through me and I’ll pass them ob to Bob Lynch. Congratulations to Robert and to Joe.
Another vacancy exists, however, on the Digest’s staff of volunteers. We need a sales manager to sell advertisements for the Hibernian Digest. Printing the Digest every two months is a major expense for the Order. Our annual dues pay for that expense. The only offset is revenue from advertising. As you can see, not many ads are being sold. This would be the perfect part-time activity for one of our brothers who is a retired salesman. Even a currently employed salesman may have the time to manage our sales effort and sell some ads. Please contact me at editorhiberniandigest@yahoo.com so we can talk.
