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Remembering Verne Leedom

Verne T. Leedom

Verne T. Leedom

Verne Leedom died this week at the age of 81.

A dozen years or so ago, when I joined Irish Thunder Pipes & Drums, Verne was the band’s drum major. He was out in front of the band, parade after parade—waving the mace, calling out the tunes, wearing the conspicuous fuzzy hat. That he somehow managed to do so at all, a big man with bum knees, is a tribute to his fortitude. And more than that, really. He just loved being drum major. We would have followed him anywhere, and not just because he was yelling at us to do so.

Out of uniform, Verne was every bit as memorable. You’d see him sitting at a table downstairs at the Ancient Order of Hibernians Notre Dame Division hall in Swedesburg, leaning back in his chair and quietly chatting with friends. There might be a dozen or so people in the room, but Verne was the one you’d notice. And it wasn’t because he was the loudest or the most boisterous. His voice carried when he needed it to—you could always hear him loud and clear, even way back in the highly distractable drum line. But he stood out because he was listening. Everyone else was talking; he was listening.

No one listened more intently. He had a talent for making you feel like whatever you had to say was the most fascinating thing anyone had ever said. It was no act. Verne was genuinely interested. His eyes were riveted on your face, his ears and mind were wide open to whatever you had to say, and his little gray goatee never failed to frame a smile if you said something funny. He smiled a lot.

And it wasn’t as if you were Verne’s friend for just that moment. Once you were in with Verne—and he seemed to be open to just about everybody—you were in forever. Verne never “unfriended” anyone that I know of. Even after I left the band to join another one, Verne never held a grudge. Fairly uncharacteristic for an Irishman, in my experience, and especially unexpected in the often catty little world of pipe bands. I would still run into him from time to time at parades, festivals or AOH functions. It didn’t matter whether months or years had gone by. Verne would extend his hand, and he would always ask me, “How are ya, lad?”

Which, when you come to think of it, is a funny thing to call a 60-year-old man.

So thanks to Verne Leedom for making me feel like a kid. I’m most decidedly not one, but I’ll take it. Mostly, though, thanks for showing all the rest of us what it really means to be a friend.

Godspeed, lad.

We asked a couple of Verne’s friends to add their thoughts. Here’s what they had to say:

Pete Hand
Irish Thunder Drum Major

After I joined the AOH Notre Dame Division in 1996, I hooked up with Verne right away. I became part of the Isle of Erin Degree Team that he was a part of. He served as a director on the Home Association with me. When I was president of the division he was my vice president for many years. When I joined the Irish Thunder Pipes and Drums as drum major he gave me some instructions since he had been a drum major. He also served with me on the Saint Patrick’s Parade Committee and the festival committee.

So as you can see, at the age of 82 Verne was very active. He attended everything and was still an officer of the AOH Montgomery County Board when he passed away Tuesday morning.

Verne use to call me almost every day to see how things were or to get some dirt on the goings on at the AOH. He and his wife Ann attended almost everything that came up with the AOH. He was also Grand Marshal of the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade when it was in Norristown.

Verne will be missed by all here at the Notre Dame Division. But I will also miss him very much. He always said he never had a brother but he always considered me a brother to him.

We are going to give him a good send off on Saturday at Saint Patrick’s Church in Norristown. That’s what he would have wanted.

Mick McBride

My name is Mick McBride, I was born in Donegal, Ireland, and moved to the States in 1990. I met Verne on a Thursday night the summer of 2001; the night I was sworn in as an AOH member. Verne and I hit it off right away. He always called me, “Mickey me lad.” A year later I joined the pipe band (Irish Thunder) which Verne was quartermaster of at the time, so he had the huge task of “dressing” me (fitting me for my band uniform).

My first ever dress with the band was as drum major for the Norristown St. Patrick’s Day parade in which coincidentally, Verne was nominated as Grand Marshal. As the band reached the grandstand, we halted and left faced toward Verne. I walked to the stage and presented Verne with the band mace and asked if he would do the honor of calling the next set as Verne was drum major of the band for a period of time. I could tell it was an emotional time for Verne and it was for me as well. Verne never saw this coming.

Verne was a very humble man, a very proud man and he held the AOH in his heart strongly, serving the many roles he participated in over the year with great honor, valor and dignity. His intentions were always sincere and in the best interest of the AOH, constantly striving to uphold the values of what the AOH stands for.

In addition to being an asset for the AOH, and a well respected Hibernian Brother across the state, Verne was a former semi-pro ball player who kept us entertained with wonderful stories of years past, but most importantly, Verne was a loving husband and wonderful father. He was so proud of his family and even in recent weeks as Verne’s health declined, he refused to miss his son Sean’s wedding.

I could sit for hours telling you all the exceptional qualities of Verne—the list goes on and on. Verne will be missed like words cannot explain. Verne and his wife Ann are such a huge part of the AOH and they were first in line to volunteer with so many events at the AOH. Verne will get a send off on Saturday like no other!!!

RIP, lad.

August 12, 2011 by
Music, News, People

Benefit for the Fleadh Boys

They could have called it the “Brittingham’s Session Orchestra.” More than 15 Irish musicians crowded into the Lafayette Hill pub’s event space to provide music for the dancers who managed to find a few square feet in which to do their thing.

Alex Weir

And they were all there for a good cause. The event, which included a brunch, raffle, and 50-50, was organized by fiddler (Belfast Connection) Laine Walker Hughes, to raise money to help defray expenses for the families of Alex Weir, 12, and Keegan Loesel, 11, who are traveling to Ireland this month to compete in the All-Irelands, the Olympics of Irish music.

This is Alex’s second and Keegan’s first trip to the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, which draws regional competition winners from all over the world, this year to Cavan Town. To qualify, musicians must come in first or second in the regionals.

The boys have been raising money on their own by busking—that time-honored Irish tradition of playing on the street for donations. In fact, two fellow buskers—teenagers Michael and Eamon Durkan of Wilmington, DE—came to participate in the fundraiser. They met, well, on the street. “We played with them,” said Eamon Durkan. “They’re really incredible players. We came to support them.”

As you’ll see from our photos, so did many others.

Read more about the boys here.

August 5, 2011 by
News, People

Annabella McAleer Manley, 1925-2011

Annabella Manley

The Philadelphia Irish community lost a beloved friend and one of its brightest spirits this week when Annabella McAleer Manley passed away at age 86 on July 26th. Her presence will be especially missed at The Irish Immigration Center, where she was a cherished regular at The Center’s weekly lunches.

Born in Donaghmore, County Tyrone in 1925, Annabella was just 23 years old when she came to the United States. She embraced her adopted country, but carried with her always a love of her Irish culture and homeland.

In December of 2009, I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing Annabella for a video project at the The Immigration Center. Her own words tell the story of her journey from a happy childhood spent on a farm in Northern Ireland to a new life in America.

“We had what we called a small home, it wasn’t a large farm. It was beautiful country. We had nothing really extravagant; I guess we were poor, but not church mouse poor. It was just the four of us, my brother Johnny, my mom and dad and myself.

“I always felt that I would come to America eventually. But I didn’t know this when I used to listen to my grandmother’s records. She had one called ‘I’m Off to Philadelphia in the Morning’ and I would play that one over and over. So in the back of my mind I had an idea I was coming here one day.”

Annabella’s first stop was Derry City.

“I was working there. There were a lot of girls from Free Ireland. I was from The North, and they were from The Free State. So we became very good friends. This girlfriend of mine was born in America and she said she was going back. She was going to take her sister and her brothers, and told me that if I decided to come to America like I said, she’d sponsor me.

“I left Ireland for England when I was 18, and I stayed for 5 years. My girlfriend Florence brought all her sisters and brothers out to America, and then when I was living in London, I got a letter saying she was ready to sponsor me.”

That was how it was done in those days. Annabella followed her friend to the U.S., and lived with her family while she started her new life. The lovely young Irish woman got jobs modeling and then found her way to Philadelphia. She loved to tell stories about the evenings spent dancing at The Irish Center in Mt. Airy and at 69th Street in Upper Darby.

“We’re just going to miss her so much. She was such a smiley, happy person,” Siobhan Lyons, the Director of The Irish Immigration Center said. “She was always laughing and joking, so full of joy. And I will miss her great stories. She was so inspiring. She came over to America when she was young, and witnessed so many of the changes in the country. I am going to miss her terribly.”

Annabella’s funeral will be held on Saturday, July 30th at 11a.m. at St. Bernadette Church, Turner Avenue, Drexel Hill. Further details can be found in The Delaware County Daily Times.

July 29, 2011 by
How to Be Irish in Philly, Music, News, People

How To Be Irish in Philly This Week

Enter the Haggis

Next year, we’re taking most of the summer off and spending it down the shore because clearly, that’s the only way to be Irish in Philly. Even some of our favorite local groups, like Blackthorn and Jamison, are performing mainly in Jersey this summer. Working on their Celtic tans, no doubt.

Blackthorn will be closer to home in August (August 14, at 7:30 PM) , giving a concert at Rose Tree Park in Media. But at the end of the month (August 27) they’ll be playing for the beach crowd at the Windrift Hotel in Avalon (we love Avalon).

Jamison has gigs at Shenanigans in Sea Isle this Sunday and Keenan’s Irish Pub in North Wildwood on July 30, plus an acoustic session at Tucker’s in Wildwood later in the evening.

And you can catch the Broken Shillelaghs (all or part of them) at McMichael’s, near the sunny shores of the Delaware River in Gloucester City, NJ, just over the bridge from Philly on Monday night.

Also in town, the Bogside Rogues: They’ll be rocking and rolling at Daly’s Pub in the Northeast on Saturday night.

Enter the Haggis will also be in the area on Sunday, performing at the Sellersville Theatre in Sellersville with the John Byrne Band. If you’ve never been to Sellersville, now’s the right time. Not only are they two fabulous bands, you barely have to be out in the heat to make a cool evening of it. Right next to the Sellersville Theatre is Washington House, a great restaurant with a turn-of-the-century bar that will take you back in time except that everything’s air-conditioned. You’ll only be hot for a few seconds.

At Quakertown’s Memorial Park, RUNA with Shannon Lambert-Ryan will be playing till after the sun goes down on Sunday.

Mark your calendars for July 31 when Belfast Connection hosts a benefit brunch for Alex Weir and Keegan Loesel, two young musicians who qualified for the annual All-Ireland music competitions in Cavan Town in August, at Brittingham’s Irish Pub in Lafayette Hills. Your $20 will buy you a delicious meal, some great music, and help defray the costs of the trip for the boys and their families.

On the same day in Somers Point, NJ, there’s a benefit ceili for three other local youngsters going to the Fleadh, including fiddle phenom Haley Richardson, her brother, Dylan, and harper Emily Safko.

July 22, 2011 by
Food & Drink, News, People

Bar Rescue?

Brian Duffy in Downey's kitchen.

Back in May, Spike TV’s newest series, “Bar Rescue,” came to Philadelphia to take on Downey’s Pub and Restaurant at Front and South. They sent in a restaurant turnaround artist, an experienced Irish chef, and a bar guy. They should have sent in FEMA.

When the show airs on Sunday night, July 24, at 10 PM, you’ll see why.

“This was absolutely the worst and dirtiest restaurant I’ve ever set foot in,” says Brian Duffy, the chef who has helmed the kitchens of the Shanachie Irish Pub and Restaurant in Ambler, the Kildare’s Irish Pub chain, and once, many years ago, Downey’s.

“There was trash in the hallways. Dead lobsters everywhere. The walk-in fridge was more like an air conditioner. The products in there were rancid. It was 52 degrees and it’s supposed to be under 40. It’s like throwing a festival for bacteria,” says Duffy, the culinary expert who served as menu doctor for two previous struggling bars in the series.

Few are struggling as much as Downey’s, once a Philly Irish institution during the decade’s long reign of the late Jack Downey. Two days before St. Patrick’s Day this year, Philadelphia health inspectors shut down the place for 51 health code violations. It opened two days later, but will be re-inspected in September.

Owner/chef Domenico Centofanti is already in financial trouble. The bar could face sheriff’s sale because Centofanti owes the city more than $100,000 in back taxes. Beset by lawsuits—including from unpaid employees—Centofanti filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last September.

What Gordon Ramsey is to “Kitchen Nightmares,” Jon Taffer is to “Bar Rescue.” One of the country’s top restaurant and bar consultants, Taffer, the brains behind Pulsations and Rainforest Café, specializes in giving last-chance establishments one more chance. Spike calls him “the man to call when your bar is on the rocks.” And like Ramsey, his style is in-your-face.

“He’s tough to take, but he knows what he’s doing,” says Duffy. “Jon’s a very scientific man. He even designs menu based on studies of where the eye goes and what your thoughts are when you’re reading it.”

The third man on the Downey’s team was Keith Raimondi, whiskey maven from Iron Chef Jose Garces’ Village Whiskey on South 20th Street. (The show also hired a retired health inspector to give the place a once-over.)

Three guys, five days. That’s all the time they got to raise the bar on Downey’s, which shut down for the makeover. “There was no bar manager, no general manager, no chef, just the three of us,” says Duffy. Plus the crew that came in to clean the kitchen.

“The first thing I did was look at the menu and it was funny, because it still had some of my items from when I was the chef,” Duffy says. But it also had veal parm and other Italian dishes. “They had to go. It just didn’t make sense. So we added some Irish stuff, simple fun stuff that was more appropriate.”

Spike TV paid for new walk-ins, a stove (“When we started cleaning the stove the whole thing collapsed on itself,” says Duffy) and other equipment, as well as new menus and uniforms for the wait staff. “It was painted inside and the bar was reorganized,” says Duffy, who is now corporate executive chef for Seafood America in Warminster, a supplier of fresh and frozen seafood products to retail stores.

Duffy worked with the staff on establishing schedules for daily and weekly cleaning, creating prep lists and other organizational tools, and worked closely with Domenic Centofanti—that is to say, engaged in screaming matches with the chef-owner—to help get the kitchen back on track. “It’s really a shame, because Dom is an amazing chef,” says Duffy.

The show ends with the major re-launch, when even the health inspector Spike hired “couldn’t believe it” when he not only re-inspected the place but also ate there, says Duffy.

But this particular bar rescue may have been too little, too late. Not only is Centofanti facing some high legal hurdles, some of what was done appears to have  been undone, Duffy says.

“I thought Dom and had kind of gotten through to each other, but we left on a Thursday and the old menu was back up on Friday morning,” he says.

Bar Rescue’s Downey’s episode airs Sunday, July 24, at 10 PM, on Spike TV. Check your local listings. And keep an eye out for some familiar Irish faces. Besides Duffy, local singer John Byrne made an appearance on the show.

July 22, 2011 by
People

Antoin Mac Gabhann and a House Concert Extraordinaire

Antoin Mac Gabhann at the PCG house concert

There is no musical experience in the world quite like a house concert. And last Friday’s Antoin Mac Gabhann performance, sponsored by the Philadelphia Ceili Group, was a special one even by house concert standards.

The 25 guests in attendance were too busy enjoying the tunes and stories shared with them by one of Ireland’s best traditional fiddle players to pay any heed to the rain and thunder outside.  In the cozy living room, laughter and conversation flowed easily between performer and audience.

Mac Gabhann, whose last name translates from Irish to English as “Son of the Smith,” holds, among other honors, that of being a two time winner of the All-Ireland Senior Fiddle title. In addition to teaching weekly fiddle lessons in his County Meath home for over 30 years, and participating in sessions all over the world, the Cavan born Mac Gabhann has also published two volumes of Vincent Broderick tunes, titled “The Turoe Stone Collection.”

In between playing some Broderick reels and jigs, Mac Gabhann explained how the books came about:

“I had been playing these for years before I knew that they were Broderick tunes. I didn’t know anything that Broderick had composed. And, in fact, I discovered that these were his tunes when I was playing with him, having a little session one night. I played one of the tunes and I said ‘I got these tunes down in Fermanagh.’ And he said, ‘But they’re my tunes!’  And, in fact, I played the three jigs [“The Haunted House,” “The Whistler at the Wake” and “The Old Flame”], and he had forgotten all about ‘The Old Flame.’

“When I played it, he remembered it. So I said to him, ‘Well, do you have more tunes?’ And he said he had, a good few.”  Mac Gabhann asked if Broderick would put them on tape and send them to him, which Broderick was happy to do. “He was concerned that the tunes would be lost. And people were playing some of them and didn’t know they were his. So, every now and again, I’d get a tape, and then I’d get another tape, and a few more.

“We published a book of them, it was about 1994 or 1995 I’d say. And then when that was done, he’d begin to give me another tape, and another tape.  It took me longer to get to listen to the tapes the second time around, but we did publish, a few years before he died, a second book of his tunes.”

We managed to capture Mac Gabhann playing some Broderick reels and jigs on video, as well as a few other tunes, so take a listen to a snippet of what was indeed a rare and magical night of music:  Antoin Mac Gabhann Playing Tunes in Philly

July 15, 2011 by
News, People

Father Ed Brady Takes a New Post

Father Brady and his little cousin, Joseph.

The parishioners of St. Anne’s Church in the Kensington section of Philadelphia are going to have to learn all the words to the hymn, “Our Lady of Knock,” now that Father Edward Brady is their new pastor.

On Sunday, July 10, Father Brady, former pastor of St. Isidore’s Parish in Quakertown, was installed at pastor at the church at a ceremony that was decidedly Irish. There was a bagpiper outside the church as everyone entered. The regional bishop presided: Bishop Michael Fitzgerald. Then there was the regional vicar: Father Paul Kennedy. Father Brady’s brother, also Father Brady (James), flew in from his parish in New Orleans, LA, to be one of the concelebrants of the Mass. And local singer Theresa Kane sang “Our Lady of Knock,” a hymn that pays tribute to the Blessed Mother who reportedly appeared to a group of people in Knock, County Mayo, Ireland in 1979, which is a staple wherever the Irish in the Philadelphia region gather.

Also in the church were members of all the organizations for whom Father Ed Brady serves as chaplain: The Irish Memorial, The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, the Cavan Society, the Galway Society, and the Inspirational Irish Women Awards. Philadelphia Councilman Bill Green and his wife, Margie, participated in the Mass. Tyrone-born singer Raymond Coleman performed at the reception afterwards.

View our photos of the event.

July 15, 2011 by
News, People

A Year Later: A Hero Remembers

A treasured honor: a homemade medal from a child saved.

When the call came over the police radio, Tim Brooks knew it was something big. He could feel it. A boat capsized off Penns Landing. There were survivors in the Delaware.. “It’s not something you hear every day,” says Brooks, a 19-year veteran of the Philadelphia police department and a detective with the bomb squad. “If you’ve been a cop for any amount of time you get some sense of what’s going to be legit and this sounded legit.” And serious.

Brooks was with his partner and an ATF agent at ATF headquarters at Customs House at Second and Chestnut a year ago–on July 7, 2010—when they heard the call. Just a couple of blocks away, a 2,100-ton city-owned barge picking up sludge rammed a stalled sightseeing boat operated by Ride the Ducks with 37 tourists on board, sending the crew and passengers into the murky, fast-moving waters of the river.

That’s what Brooks saw when he and his colleagues arrived at the scene just a few minutes later. He remembers it like a photograph: heads bobbing like buoys in the Delaware, many of them terrified children frantically swimming toward shore, the ravaged Duck boat now sitting at the bottom of the river. “You had to take a moment,” recalls Brooks. “There were so many people in the water. You didn’t know where to begin. It seemed overwhelming.”

But that’s where the thinking stopped and instinct took over. Brooks quickly shed his gun, his wallet, shoes and keys and jumped into the water, his eyes on a woman and three children struggling to grab on to a row of wooden pylons about 20 yards offshore.

“The first one I reached was a young girl, maybe 10 years old,” Brooks recalled. “She wasn’t panicking, but I could see she was upset.” He grabbed hold of her and helped her grasp one of the pylons.

By this time, a Coast Guard boat had reached the group, but couldn’t get close because “if a wave came or the current switched, you could get crushed,” says Brooks. The Coast Guard crew tossed a rope out, and Brooks put the little girl’s arm around his neck and swam her to the boat where she was pulled on board. “Then I went back for the other girls,” he says, “and a group of Navy Seals in a small boat arrived.” Fortuitously, the Seals were visiting Philadelphia from Reston, Virginia, for Navy Appreciation day. Since their vessel was an inflatable Zodiac, they were able to pull alongside the group and Brooks helped pull the woman and the other children out of the water.

There was no room for Brooks in the Zodiac so he swam back to the Coast Guard boat. “I was pretty tired when I got back. Someone told me that I had been in the water for 15 minutes which is a long time to tread water. But I couldn’t have told you how long I was in there—I was a little busy,” he says, laughing.

Medal of Honor winner, Det. Tim Brooks of the Philadelphia Police Department.

Sitting outside the small office of the city’s bomb disposal unit in northeast Philadelphia, the sound of bullets and explosives punctuating the air, Brooks concedes that the case was unusual for him—he’s an investigator whose milieu is fire, not water. But he still considered his actions all in a day’s work. “I don’t feel like I did anything special. It’s my job,” says the tall, affable Brooks, whose family tree, like that of many descendants of Irish immigrants, is crowded with cops and firemen.

But other people thought that what he did was more than special. They thought it was heroic. One of them was Philadelphia Homicide Detective Jack Cummings who nominated Brooks—without his knowledge—for a Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation award. The organization, chartered by Congress in 1958, consists exclusively of recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration given by the US. These same honorees, most of whom risked their lives in combat, choose the recipients of the Citizen Service Above Self Award every year.

“He did it in December and told me in January,” says Brooks. “He said he just wanted to let me know that ‘that was a good thing you did.’”

In March, the Foundation announced that Brooks was one of three people from around the country—including a Boston school crossing guard who died after throwing herself in front of a car to protect a child—chosen to receive the award, which is bestowed at a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. Marine Lt. Col. Harvey C. “Barney” Barnum, who received the Medal of Honor for risking his life to save his beleaguered battalion when they were pinned down by enemy fire at Ky Phu in the Quang Tin Province in Vietnam in 1965, presented Brooks with his award.

“I never in a million years thought I’d ever get something like that,” says Brooks. “I still don’t think I deserve it. Millions of people do tremendous things every day and I’m not one of them. I feel humbled to be considered among them.”

Brooks spent three days in the Washington area with the Medal of Honor winners. “We were throwing back war stories like we were old friends,” he says grinning. He and the other honorees met President Obama at the White House. The days were already fraught with emotion, but Brooks had another reason to be grappling with his feelings. The day on which he received his award was the first year anniversary of his father’s death. “It still gets to me,” he confesses, his eyes watering. “I carried his picture in my pocket. I really think the date was no coincidence.”

Brooks was carrying something else with him too. One of the children he rescued, a little girl named Lily, had surprised him at the ceremony with her own medal—homemade from clay, painted gold, and even inscribed with his name. (See a photo of Lily and her hero here. )  How they met—both the first and second time–was serendipitous. “When the story appeared in the paper, my wife Shannon’s hairdresser told her she was dying to tell her something. She said, ‘The woman your husband saved is one of my clients. She was in here the other day, crying, and she said she was going to contact the police department because they want to meet him.’”

When they finally did meet, Lily’s mother gave Brooks a copy of the letter that her daughter had written to the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. “I read it and we sat around sobbing like a bunch of two-year-olds,” Brooks confesses sheepishly.

In Arlington, he showed Lily’s medal to Col. Barnum. “We were about to have our official pictures taken and I said to him, ‘Colonel, can I leave this on? He said, ‘If you don’t, I’ll break your arm.’”

Brooks is the only one in the official photos wearing not one, but two medals. It’s hard to tell which he treasures more.

“As you can see,” says Brooks, “I’m really humbled by this whole thing and I’m not comfortable talking about it. But I wanted to speak out because I am a product of the training I got in this police department. In my opinion, this is the most professional law enforcement organization on the planet, though sometimes the media tends to highlight the negative. The truth is, cops from here to Alaska are doing heroic things every day. I didn’t do anything special. I was doing my job. I know that any of my fellow police officers would do the same thing.”

July 7, 2011 by