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First Parade Party Gives Fundraising a Big Kickstart

Why have one shamrock when you could have a dozen?

Judging by the crowd in the brand-new Fraternal Order of Police Heroes Ballroom in the Great Northeast on Sunday afternoon, fund-raising for the 2013 Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade is off with a bang.

“We think we’re between 600 and 700 people,” said Bob Gessler, president of the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association, as he looked out on a crowd that also crammed the FOP hall’s spacious lobby, where long lines of party-goers queued up for baked ziti, hot roast beef sandwiches, potato salad, and meatballs. When asked how much money the event might have raised toward the roughly $75,000 it costs to stage the Sunday, March 10, parade, Gessler wasn’t sure at that point, but he said: “I think it’s going to make a very large dent in it.”

Gessler also praised the FOP for its generosity. “We’re ecstatic that they’re working with us,” he said. “We’ve actively been trying to do something with them. They’ve just been fantastic, and this place is beautiful.”

Although the union did charge the association for the use of the hall at Comly and Caroline in the Normandy neighborhood—an impressive step up from the union’s former digs at Broad and Spring Garden—Gessler said the fundraiser benefited from what he referred to as “the grand marshal discount.” This year’s grand marshal is retired Philadelphia Police Officer Harry Marnie, longtime member of the FOP and president of the Emerald Society. Marnie was on hand to enjoy the party, too.

And what a swell party it was, with non-stop tunes from No Irish Need Apply, Jamison, and the Bogside Rogues, and entertainment by the Celtic Flame Irish Dancers.

We have a big photo essay, above. Check it out.

And don’t get complacent: the parade isn’t paid for yet. You can help put the parade on the street at the next huge fundraiser Sunday, March 3, at Cardinal O’Hara High School, 1701 Sproul Road in Springfield, Delaware County. The event runs from 3 to 7 p.m., with music by Sláinte and The Round Tower Band. and performances by McDade, Cara, & McHugh Schools of Irish Dance. The cost of admission is $25 for adults, and $10 for students. The price includes buffet and entertainment. There’s a cash bar. Details at the parade website.

February 25, 2013 by Jeff Meade

News, People

“He Still Has Us Laughing:” Knute Bonner Remembered

Knute Bonner gets a hug from Bridie McCafferty, left, and her sister, Peggy.

When Knute Bonner died last week at the age of 87, Philadelphia’s Irish and Irish-American community lost one of its most colorful, kind and puckish characters. On Sunday, March 10, when the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade passes along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, it will be without its 2001 grand marshal. For those who knew Knute Bonner, it’s a moment of sadness, but also—as is the case with any Irish wake—it’s a moment to share stories.

Not surprisingly, there are a lot of them. We asked a few of his friends to share their thoughts.

Michael Bradley, Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade Director

“The Knute I Knew.” That would be a great title of a book written about him. He would jump from how he didn’t feel good, to showing me the wound on his leg, to telling you one of his jokes, to singing a song and possibly back to how we miss so-and-so who just passed—all in the same five minutes. Knute had a great outlook on life. He was always positive, and always ended with a chuckle—like he knew something you didn’t.

He was an entertainer, and when the red light and spotlight came on, he came on, the crowd came on, and the crowd loved him, and he loved them!

He thought the Irish were the greatest race on earth, but he didn’t really talk to me about being Irish, it was more about St. Patrick’s Day. That day meant the world to him. I still get chills down the back of my neck when I think of him singing “It’s a great day for the Irish.”

He also started the Southwest St Patrick’s Club in 1950, before I was even born, and to see those men and women still march with their third-generation marchers is a real tribute to Knute, since most of them have moved out of Southwest Philly. He was also very proud of all the Irish in SW Philly and West Catholic.

My best best story about Knute is not an Irish one. My son Colin was in fourth grade at St Pius X in Broomall. This was awhile ago since he now is a sophomore at Penn State with Knute’s grandson Shane. The teacher asked if any of the students knew anyone from World War II to share some stories. I told him, you have to bring Knute in—no one can tell better stories than Knute.

Well, it was a day I wasn’t going to miss. Knute started out by not seeing the chain in the schoolyard that separates the kids from the parking lot, and he drove right through it—starting the day off with a bang. He then tells me—kind of loud—when we get into class that “they sure didn’t make teachers who looked like this when I was in school”!

Paul Phillips and Knute Bonner

And for the next hour and a half—he was supposed to talk for 15 minutes or so—he had the teacher, myself and every kid in the class mesmerized! He started out telling them about his best friend from Bartram High School who was killed right in front of him. He talked about how their helmets were protection against bullets, but how they also shaved in them, and ate beans they cooked out of them—sometimes, all in the same day! He mixed in so many funny, sad, memorable, and patriotic stories in one big run-on story, he held my attention—jumping from story to story to story without missing a beat!

He was almost 80 years old and there wasn’t a veteran in America who could hold a candle to Knute that day. He tried to pass around a huge German sword, which the teacher rightfully took off the first kid, but that never deterred Knute; he never missed a beat. He just kept on going.

At the end, he asked if he could sing the “Star Spangled Banner,” and he told all the kids how they should always stand up straight, look at the flag, and remember all the people who gave their lives for this country. He had tears flowing down his checks—me, too—but he switched gears in classic Knute style and told them if they ever saw ANYONE who was sitting at a game when our National Anthem was being played or sung, that is was OK to go up and kick them right in the ass, as the tears turn again in mid-story to that laugh of his. The teacher looked at me and said it was not alright to go kick anyone, but Knute said to listen to him!

Knute’s visit was in the month of January. Kids don’t remember what you taught them yesterday, but on the last week of school, the kids voted on the best day of school and there were 34 votes for Knute Bonner Day, and 0 for any other day of school.

Knute was on the parade board since the early ‘60s, so there wasn’t much he hadn’t seen, and I always respected that. At his last meeting he attended in January, an issue came up about us inviting all the veterans, and I suggested that they all march together with the 82nd Airborne, but I wanted to get Knute’s opinion. So I asked him to address the audience and he did so eloquently, and thoughtfully and told us how his group, the Battle of the Bulge, had too few members to march. His last public comments were that of a man who was 87 years old, but we hung on every word in deep respect for what that man did for our parade and our country.

Happy 84th Birthday

Bob Gessler, President of the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association

He was simply an omnipresent figure. From the very first time I became involved, there was Knute.

He served on the parade board for over 50 years, and was, if the not the longest-serving member, very near the longest. He was on the board longer than I’ve been around. Just imagine the love you must have for your heritage, your faith and your city to serve that long.

He was a person who always cared about every person in the parade. He thought about how we can eliminate delays, how we can make the parade better and more enjoyable for everyone.

He obviously lived his life caring and striving to make it better for everyone. He made it known to all that he served in the Battle of the Bulge, and it never was a “me” thing; rather a tribute to all those who served with him.

He was truly a remarkable, many-faceted man and one hell of an Irishman.

Mary Frances Fogg, St. Patrick’s Day Parade Board Member

Knute Bonner was always joking, and always good for a laugh. For years at the parade meetings Knute has been asking the board to purchase walkie-talkies, so we can talk to each other and to the marshals during the parade. So after years of Knute asking, a few weeks ago I purchased walkie-talkies, and I was going to present them to him at the Grand Marshal Annual Dinner this year. I knew he would get a kick out of it, and finally put this discussion to rest.

So after hearing of Knute’s passing, I thought about the walkie-talkies, and I sent a few members of the board an email telling them about the purchase. Kathy McGee Burns suggested that we put one of the walkie-talkies in the coffin. I quickly responded that she would have to take possession of the other one just in case he calls! And knowing Knute, he will!

God Bless Knute, and his wonderful sense of humor. He still has us laughing. He will be greatly missed.

Bridie McCafferty, St. Patrick’s Day Parade Board Member

Knute Bonner was a sweetheart. He made you feel like you were the most important person in the world when he saw you.
He was not a politician or a celebrity, but you wouldn’t believe the crowds that came to pay tribute to him at his viewing and funeral Mass. This shows how he touched so many people.

Knute was the life of the party, made lifelong friends quickly, and was always up for a bit of fun. When he motioned you to come near him with that twinkle in his eye, and he changed his voice to a whisper, you knew you were going to hear a joke or funny story.

But it was his quiet and humble way of doing charitable work for those less fortunate that I will also remember. For many years, Knute put on Irish Cabaret shows for the elderly at local nursing homes. The joy he brought to his audiences was, as they say, priceless. His life was one of loving service to his family, the church, the Irish community, and veteran causes. You couldn’t meet anyone more generous than Knute.

Knute’s love of God created a joy of life which he richly shared with others, and a sense of service and duty to others that extended to risking his own life in WWII.

We are all the better for knowing Knute.

And I can only imagine what March 17th will be like in heaven this year, with Knute singing ‘When Irish Eyes are Smiling’ with St. Patrick himself.

God bless you Knute, and God bless your wonderful family.

Kathy McGee Burns, Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Parade Board Member

I can never remember a funeral as big and beautiful as Knute’s. It was a tribute to a great man. In his death, he was remembered as he lived—not in a maudlin way, but in a happy way.

Knute was buried dressed in his emerald green high-top sneakers, with a shillelagh, his WWII cap, his service decorations,a grand marshal’s sash, a walkie-talkie,an Irish shamrock tie, a book titled “Irish Philadelphia,” a rose in his pocket , a CD playing songs from his string band days, and his Green Top Hat.

I watched the people lean over and kiss him, or rub his hand. I bet there were 1,000 people who came to say goodbye to Knute. The eulogy by a family friend, John Delaney, was nothing short of a vaudeville show, filled with Knute jokes. Pat (Bonner) told me that they closed I-95 for the procession of a “Fallen Hero”as they went to the cemetery.What a farewell party!

February 22, 2013 by Jeff Meade

Genealogy, History, News

Rest in Peace: John Ruddy

Professor Bill Watson and Vince Gallagher. Gallagher donated the plot in the Donegal cemetery where John Ruddy will be buried on March 2.

The remains of John Ruddy, one of 57 Irish railroad workers who died at an area in Malvern known as Duffy’s Cut, will be buried on Saturday, March 2 in a donated grave at Holy Family Church in Ardara, County Donegal, Ireland—181 years after his death.

The remains were shipped to Ireland several weeks ago, said Professor William Watson of Immaculata University who, with his twin brother, Frank, discovered the remains of the victims who may have died of cholera—or were murdered by vigilantes—near a railroad embankment in the woods in East Whiteland Township.

Vincent Gallagher, a businessman and president of the Commodore Barry Club (The Irish Center) in Philadelphia, donated the grave in his family plot. The Watsons had hoped that Ruddy, who was believed to be an 18-year-old from Inishowen, would be buried near his own family, but the DNA tests on the body and a possible family member in Ireland have not been completed.

The remains of six other victims, including one woman, that were recovered from the site were buried in a donated grave in West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Lower Merion last fall. Skulls of several of those victims exhibited signs of violence and a University of Pennsylvania anthropologist confirmed that one was shot through the head. The Watsons have speculated that the seven may have tried to leave the site after the cholera outbreak and were killed to keep them from spreading the disease, which is caused by a bacteria and is usually spread by consuming contaminated food or water.

Work is expected to begin this spring to unearth the rest of the Duffy’s Cut victims who are buried much deeper than the first seven and close to the Amtrak railroad tracks. Following the intervention of US Sen. Robert Casey and other legislators, Amtrak, which originally told the Watsons that it was too dangerous to dig up the remains so close to the tracks, finally gave permission.

The Smithsonian Channel will be airing the documentary, “The Ghosts of Duffy’s Cut,” on March 7 at 8 AM and 5 PM, and again on March 15 at 10 PM.

February 21, 2013 by Denise Foley

Music, News

Lunasa: New CD, New Show

Lunasa (Trevor Hutchinson in the middle)

It’s rare to find an Irish musician who could be described as “full of himself.” In my experience, and I’ve met quite a few, they tend to be pretty modest, more interested in playing music than anything else, including, in some cases, making money playing music.

Lunasa’s Trevor Hutchinson (the tall one with the stand up bass) takes humble to a whole new level.

When I asked him the other day about how it felt to be part of a group that was named “Performers of the Decade” in 2010 by popular internet radio-TV station, liveireland.com, this was his response:

“We were? I didn’t know that.”

When we both stopped laughing, he admitted, “I’m actually unaware of these things, which makes it hard to bask in the glory then.” And we laughed some more.

I didn’t ask him if he knew that when you Google the band, the website that comes up reads, “Lunasa, the hottest Irish acoustic group on the planet.” I’m guessing, no.

There’s no getting around that this is a hot band. After 15 years and soon-to-be nine releases, they’re till getting five stars on amazon.com. Still being showered with superlative adjectives like “exhilarating,” “superb,” “the new gods of Irish music,” and “better than the music you hear in an Irish pub.” Okay, so that last one was on one of those internet sites where any yahoo can make an unmoderated comment, but you get the idea.

When you’re that hot, you can take some chances, and with their new CD (due out April 16), they are. When the band performs at the Sellersville Theatre on Wednesday, February 27, you won’t be getting the full effect of their latest effort, “Lunasa with the RTE Concert Orchestra.” That’s because they’re not traveling with the orchestra, which has backed performers as diverse as Luciano Pavarotti, Cleo Laine, and Sinead O’Connor. The concert at which the two groups performed together last summer sold out Dublin’s Concert Hall.

I asked Hutchinson, one of the founding members of the group back in 1997, how this collaboration—an intriguing one—came about. The link, he said, was Niall Vallely, the concertina player and composer from Armagh, whose brother, Cillian, is Lunasa’s piper. RTE approached Niall Vallely about creating arrangments and working with a traditional band. For some reason, Lunasa sprang to mind.

“We jumped at the chance,” said Hutchinson, who is from Cookstown, County Tyrone. They knew that Vallely would create arrangements that would enhance rather than drown out the traditional tunes. “Niall is a traditional musician who understands the music so we knew we weren’t going to get something that was full of schmaltzy strings and that.”

In fact, says Hutchinson, Vallely chose tunes from Lunasa’s back catalog that would work with just a little orchestration. “He had to look for pieces that had a deeper kind of arrangement already there.”

On the CD you’ll find “Casu” and “Merry Sisters of Fate” from their 2001 CD, “Merry Sisters of Fate;” “Leckan Mor” from Se; and other Lunasa tunes that, as his band mate, Kevin Crawford said, “had been banished to the wilderness, destined never to see the light of a Lúnasa day ever again.” Vallely rescued them, rearranged them for trad band and orchestra, and made them into something very new.

The band would like to mount another orchestral concert. The first was exhiliarating, says Hutchinson. “It does work fantastic live,” he says. “At that concert in Dublin, to be surrounded by all those fantastic musicians and that great big wall of sound was incredible. We’re seriously considering doing it again, but so far nothing definite.”

The band is currently touring the US (Florida after Sellersville) and is known for spending many weeks on the road every year, though Hutchinson says they’ve cut back some. “We don’t do as much as we used to, though we’re gearing up to do a bit more again,” he says. “Most of our touring is really in America. Some years we go once, some years two or three times, usually this time of year. Every two or three years we tour Japan, a bit in the UK and Europe.”

Are there lots of Lunasa fans in Japan? “Irish music is very big in Japan,” says Hutchinson. “Big in the sense that we can do nice sized theaters and get a really good audience. The Japanese are a dedicated type fan. They take any kind of hobby really seriously there.”

How serious? “I think we might even have a Lunasa tribute band,” says Hutchinson, laughing.

February 21, 2013 by Denise Foley

Music, News

Gearing Up for the Mount Holly Parade

A scene from a recent Mount Holly parade.

The area’s first St. Patrick’s Day Parade steps off on Saturday, March 2, at 1 p.m. in downtown Mount Holly.

With Grand Marshal Dr. Frank X. McAneny, Ed.D., leading the way down High Street, this parade features so many bagpipe bands, dance troupes, scout packs, Ancient Order of Hibernian divisions, paddy rock bands, and police and fire units, you’ll probably start to lose count.

Never fear, though: Parade organizer Jim Logue has matters well in hand. We snagged him for an interview at the recent Mid-Winter Scottish and Irish Festival.

February 19, 2013 by Jeff Meade

Music, News

2013 Scottish Irish Festival in Valley Forge

Gráinne Diver of The Screaming Orphans

Upstairs at the Valley Forge Casino Resort, guests tried to beat the odds at slots and table games… and good luck with that.

Downstairs in the convention hall, the Mid-Winter Scottish and Irish Festival was a sure winner.

The 2013 edition of the annual Celtic get-together looked to be one of the best attended we’ve seen. There was much to attract visitors, with non-stop music from the likes of the Screaming Orphans (fabulous), the tribal pipe-and-drum craziness that is Albannach, Timlin and Kane, and Brother. The vendors did brisk business in jewelry, Highland attire, and canned Haggis. And the Highland Creamery ice cream stand had long lines of hungry festival-goers lining up for a dish of Bailey’s and brown bread ice cream.

We have tons of photos from the weekend. Check out our slideshow, above.

… and also one cute little video featuring our own Haley Richardson sitting in with the John Whelan Band.

February 18, 2013 by Jeff Meade

History, News, People

Irish History’s the Star of Local Book Signing

Signing books: Marita Krivda Poxon and PA Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffrey.

Sister Polly McShain’s father, John, became a part of American history thanks to the business he inherited from his father, John McShane, an Irish immigrant from Og Hill, County Derry.

John McShain became known as “the man who built Washington.” He was, she told a crowd last Sunday at the Irish Center in Philadelphia, “the low bidder” on various projects in the nation’s capital: The Pentagon, the Jefferson Memorial, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Library of Congress annex, Washington National Airport and, in 190-51, the reconstruction of the White House. Just a few of the nation’s most iconic buildings. Later, McShain purchased Killarney House in Killarney, Ireland, where he spent a great deal of time. In 1979, he turned over the house and property to the Irish government and it has since been merged into Killarney National Park, a popular tourist attraction on Ireland’s west coat.

“All Irish should be proud of that story,” said Marita Krivda Poxon, the author of “Irish Philadelphia,” a new book about the rich history of Philadelphia’s Celtic sons and daughters, who stepped up to the microphone after Sister Polly. “It’s the story of America.”

Poxon—there are Finnegans in her line—was the guest of honor at this gathering at the Irish Center. Along with Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffrey, a Belfast native who wrote the forward to her book, and Irish Edition photographer Tom Keenan, who supplied many of the photos, she was signing books for the hundreds of people who stood patiently in line to meet her. With their autographed books in hand, they filtered into the Fireside Room for a dance demonstration by the Cummins School dancers and live music from Luke Jardel of the Hooligans and singer Rosaleen McGill and other local performers.

Peter Ryan, deputy Irish consul, traveled from New York for the event. “I feel very much at home here,” he told the crowd, clutching his autographed copy of the book. “You’re really blessed in Philadelphia to have the community you have.” Perusing the book, he said, he was surprised that so many Irish leaders and notables had visited the city, including Charles Stewart Parnell, an Irish Protestant landlord and member of parliament who championed the cause of Irish home rule; Countess Markiewicz, Sinn Fein and Fianna Fail politician and revolutionary, and Maud Gonne, an English-born Irish revolutionary and beloved of William Butler Yeats.

“Irish Philadelphia,” from Arcadia Publishing, is available in book stores, Irish shops and on amazon.com

February 8, 2013 by Denise Foley

News, People

St. Patrick’s Day Parade Ring of Honor Chosen

WMMR’s Preston and Steve collect tons of food for the hungry at their annual Campout for Hunger program.

When the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Ring of Honor marches down the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Sunday, March 10, you’ll see a custodian who came to the attention of Parade Association President Bob Gessler when he was running a drive to collect coats for the needy in Delaware County.

You’ll see the co-founder and special projects coordinator of an organization that has been credited with helping thousands of people break the cycle of homelessness and poverty in the Philadelphia area.

You may recognize a couple of local DJs who hold a “Campout for Hunger” every year that raises hundreds of tons of food for the needy. That’s right—hundreds of tons. Every year.

And by their side will be the volunteer coordinator for St. John’s Hospice at 12th and Race Streets that was founded in the 1960s by the Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd to minister to the homeless.

And the executive director of the Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance (MANNA), a nonprofit that delivers nutritious meals to people and families living with life-threatening illnesses.

And the owner of a food company that not only supplies food for holiday baskets for the poor, but has his workers help load them, alongside volunteers from the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and always throws in a few extras. Okay, a lot of extras.

And a board member of an Ancient Order of Hibernians project that collects and prepares thousands of meals for shut-ins every year.

Are you picking up a theme?

Gessler hopes you do. This year’s parade theme is “The Philadelphia Irish Memorial: A Decade of Remembrance.” It honors the tenth anniversary of the memorial, a 12-foot high and 30-foot long bronze sculpture by Glenna Goodacre, at Front and Chestnut Streets that is dedicated to the memory of the more than 1 million people who died in Ireland between 1845 and 1850. Those who don’t know their history call it “The Great Famine.” Those who do call it “The Great Hunger:” An Gorta Mor.There was no famine; the Irish starved to death while food grown on their soil was exported to Great Britain.

Gessler was part of group that raised $2 million to build the memorial and in the middle of it all, he had an attack of guilt. “I kept thinking, how can we, as an organization justify spending all the money on a memorial about the famine and not do something for people who are hungry today,” he told us back in 2008. With the help of his brothers and sisters in AOH/LAOH Div. 87, Gessler founded the Hibernian Hunger Project, which is now an official national AOH program that provides food for the needy.

As the new president of the Philadelphia St. Patrick’s Day Observance Association, Gessler gets to pick a parade “Ring of Honor.” And this year, he stuck with his favorite theme—doing good. The honorees:

Dan Harrell, former custodian at the Palestra at Penn, who went from coat drives to bringing students from St. Malachy’s College in Belfast, a Catholic grammar school for boys dating back to 1833, to the US every year to play basketball—and music. St. Malachy’s Orchestra has marched in the parade for several years.

Sister Mary Scullion, co-founder with Joan McConnon, of Project H.O.M.E., the provides housing, employment, education, and health care to chronically homeless and low-income people to break the cycle of homelessness.

Will O’Brien, special projects coordinator or Project H.O.M.E. who also coordinates The Alternative Seminary, a grassroots program of biblical and theological study.

Sue Daugherty, executive director of MANNA.

Gerry Huot, volunteer coordinator of St. John’s Hospice.

Jim Tanghe, president of Shamrock Food Distributors.

Ed Dougherty, a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians National Board Chairing for the Hibernian Hunger Project who serves the same role with the Pennsylvania State Boards and Philadelphia County Board.

Preston and Steve (Preston Elliot and Steve Morrison), popular morning DJs at WMMR and founders of Campout for Hunger.

And Timmy Kelly, a young singer, now 18, who has been performing at Phillies games, Eagles games, the Irish Festival in Wildwood, and opening the ceremonies at the parade since he was only 10 years old. Born prematurely, he has cerebral palsy and is blind, but his powerful voice has made him an Irish community favorite (he also sang for presidents and opened for the Jonas Brothers in Philadelphia). “I wanted him to know that the Irish community appreciates him—a lot,” says Gessler.

The 2013 Ring of Honor will receive their sashes at a dinner on March 7 at the Doubletree Hotel on Broad Street in Philadelphia, following a ceremony in the late afternoon at City Hall with Mayor Nutter. Also being honored: 2013 Grand Marshal, Harry Marnie, a retired police officer who is president of the Emerald Society, an organization of police and fire personnel of Irish descent.

January 31, 2013 by Denise Foley

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