A letter from the President
I would like to start out by thanking the members for the incredible amount of support at the last few meetings. I would like to remind you, the members, that without your support the Emerald Society would not be successful. I hope we can count on our members to continue attending the meetings and events throughout the year.
Some of our largest numbers of supporters are from the Joliet area. One of our “Police Officers of the Year” is also from Joliet. For that reason the Board of Directors has decided to hold the April meeting in Joliet, IL. We hope that our members who regularly attend the monthly meetings will consider taking the Shamrock Express Motorcoach or driving out to the meeting. For more information see “April Meeting” inside.
We are looking forward to the parade and remind everyone that this is a celebration for
members and their guest only! Please meet your guest at the door or make sure they have your name and member ID number.We would also like to thank The Bagpipes and Drums of the Emerald Society, Chicago Police Department, in advance for their performance. They will be performing a new set that I’m sure you will enjoy. I would also remind our members that the band has worked hard putting the show together and they do so on their own time and are an all volunteer organization.
We are looking forward to our festive month of March and hope that everyone celebrates responsibly!
Is mise le meas,
Patrick J. Moriarty
President
The annual chili cook off was held on January 14. The meeting was well attended despite the weather and the Hanna Montana traffic. We would like to thank the members who entered the contest, and send a special thanks to the following judges:
Justin Philp of the Saddle and Cycle Club, Hans Aeschbacher of Smith and Wollensky and celebrity judge Cliff Corral of the Chicago Black Hawks. Thanks also go out to Regina Arendt for her assistance in coordinating the judges. The winners of the chili cook-off were awarded cash prizes of $100.00, $75.00 & $50.00. Third place winner was Larry Nowak of the Arlington Heights PD (Ret), Second place went to Bill Moriarty, Chicago Police Dept., and First place went to Debbie O’Connor-Dimaggio of the Chicago Police Dept.The Awards Meeting was held on 11 February at Assumption Church. Once again the meeting was well attended despite the snowfall that evening. The Council General of Ireland,
Martin Rouine was in attendance and addressed the membership and guest. Mr. Rouine also presented awards to our honorees. Over thirty awards were given out that evening to police officers from Alsip, Chicago, Cook County, U.S. Diplomatic Security Service, Merrionette Park and Oaklawn. We also presented an award to a citizen of Alsip who most likely saved the life of an Alsip Police Officer. The Bagpipes and Drums of the Emerald Society also preformed for the honorees that evening. As expected, they gave a riveting performance under the direction of John McDonald. We thank them and band Manager Jon Harmening for their performance.The 2007 St. Patrick’s Day party will be held on Saturday 15 March 2008 and will be considered the March general meeting.
The St. Patrick’s Day party is for members and their guest only. The party will be held at the Galleria Marchetti located at 825 W. Erie St. in Chicago. The Galleria is located just north of the Ohio St. feeder ramp, south of Ogden Ave between Milwaukee Ave and Halsted St. Food will be provided by O’Connor’s Unforgettable Edibles. The cost for admission is $20.00 for uniformed officers and federal agents marching in proper attire, $30.00 for adults and non uniformed officers and $15.00 for persons under 21. Children 12 and under are free. The parade steps off at noon on Columbus Drive north of Roosevelt Rd. We will not know our parade number or staging area until a fewdays before the parade. Transportation will be provided to and from the parade route. We will muster at the Galleria Marchetti when the doors open at 10:30AM.We will be serving coffee and hot chocolate provided by Starbucks.
Wrist bands will be on sale in the morning and also at the parade route. We strongly recommend that you purchase the wrist band in the morning or at the parade route to avoid waiting in long lines. Wrist band holders will have a separate entrance at the Galleria. Parking is at a premium in this area! We are in negations with a valet service who will provide parking for the day at a reasonable cost. Please check the web site a few days prior to the event for updated information: www.illinoisemeraldsociety.org . No one will be allowed to remain at the Galleria during the parade. Doors will open to the public after the first bus load of uniformed marchers arrives at the Galleria. The marching order for the day will be Uniformed Officers, then Federal Agents. Following them will be civilian dress and family members. All members and guest marchers are reminded that there will be no drinking of alcohol in the staging area or while marching in the parade. If anyone feels the need to drink alcohol during this time they will not be allowed to march. Do not embarrass yourself or the Emerald Society. Be proud of the fact that you are a representative of the Irish American Police Association of Illinois.Other St. Patrick Day Parades
The South Side Parade will be on Sunday March 9 and the Northwest side parade will be on Sunday March 16th.
FOP St. Patrick’s Party
The FOP Lodge 7 will be hosting a St. Patrick’s Day party on Saturday, March 15th at the FOP hall at 1412 W. Washington Blvd. Chicago, IL. The party hours are 1800 to 2300 hrs. The admission price is $20.00 per-person and includes Harrington’s corned beef, open bar and live entrainment. If you plan on attending the FOP party please keep your Emerald Society wrist band on and your admission price is only $10.00. Wrist bands that are not in tact or off the wrist will not be honored.
The April meeting will be held at the Joliet VFW hall located at 826 Horseshoe Drive, Joliet, IL., on Tuesday, April 15. The Emerald Society was invited by the Joliet FOP and is hosting the meeting. We will have a motor coach that will depart from the 1st District at 1718 S. State in Chicago at 1645 Hrs. Parking has been arranged in the CPD lot at 17th and Federal, northwest of the station. The price for the motor coach is $20.00 per person which includes transportation to and from and admission into the meeting. Reservations are on a first come basis. There will be a cash bar available at a discounted rate. Please contact Debbie Dimaggio at (773)-517-2802 or Bob Shoup at (708) 997-4557 for information on the Shamrock Express to Joliet and book by April 14.
The children’s sports night will be on Monday, May 12th at Assumption Church at 1900 hrs. We have contacted several Chicago area sports teams and personalities and are hopeful that we will have special guests in attendance to help distribute the sporting goods.
The golf outing will be held on Monday July 7th at Carriage Greens Country Club. The cost for this year’s outing is $125.00 per golfer or $500.00 per foursome. Golfers whose payment is received by June 2nd will receive a $25.00 discount per golfer. For more information check future newsletters or call Patrick Moriarty at 847-772-0709. We are also accepting donations for the outing. You can contact the number above for information.
We have secured a permit for the picnic which will be held on Saturday July 26
th at the Des Plaines/Park Ridge Indian Boundary Woods Dam #4. It is located east of 294 between Touhy Ave and Devon Ave, at Dee Rd. The reason for the change this year is due to renovations at Lions Woods. The cost is $10.00 per person or $20.00 per car.FOP Election
Please keep the following members in mind when voting for your representation:
P.O. James Moriarty, Det. Robert Rutherford and Steve Robbins. They are longtime members and supporters of the Emerald Society.Nat’l Conference of Law Enforcement Emerald Society Scholarship
The NCLEES will be awarding four $500.00 scholarships to eligible students. Students must be presently in their senior year of High School and planning to attend College on a full time basis or must be presently attending College and planning to continue to attend College on a full time basis for the 2008-2009 school year. Students must be the child of an active member in good standing, of any organization that is itself in good standing as a member of NCLEES. Only one application will be accepted per individual student, however, more than one student per family may submit an application. Applications must be received by May 1, 2008. Prior year recipients are ineligible for the scholarship. The scholarship will be chosen by on a lottery basis at the May NCLEES meeting. The winners will be notified by the member organization and will be asked to show proof of attendance at schools that applicants states. Please send the applications to: Lou Walker/NCLEES P.O. Box 486 Amityville, NY 11701. The following information must be included in your application: Members Name, Members Organization, Students Name, Address, Present School Attending, High School Senior, College Year and School Planning to Attend.
Congratulations
The Emerald Society would like to congratulate the
Bagpipes and Drums of the Emerald Society, Chicago Police Department. The band was awarded first place at the 2007 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the band category. The band members work very hard during the year and it is great to see that their efforts are recognized.Retirement
The Emerald Society would like to congratulate
John (Jack) McKeone and Jim Albritton on their retirement. Jack most recently worked in the 1st District and is the Second Vice-President of the Emerald Society. Jim is a Captain with the Joliet Police Dept and a past board member of the Emerald Society. There will be a dinner honoring Jack at the FOP hall on 12 March, 2008. For more information or tickets call 312-745-4290. We also send our congratulations again to John “Mo” Moriarty, Past President of the Emerald Society, who retired from the 013th Dist in Oct 2007. There will be a retirement party to honor John on Friday April 18, 2008 at the FOP hall 6pm to 11pm. For tickets or more information contact Bill Moriarty (016) at 773-450-2491 or Patrick Moriarty (CCSD) at 847-772-0709. I’m also sure that Jim Moriarty (OCD), Kevin Moriarty (020), Kathy Moriarty (Area 3 Detective) or Patricia Moriarty (020) could also assist you in obtaining tickets.Raffle
We will be selling raffle tickets for our “Special Raffle” that will be drawn at our Annual 2008 Dinner Dance. We will only sell 400 tickets and will be giving away a total of $20,000 in prizes. The price of the ticket is $100.00. To secure your ticket send a check payable to the Emerald Society of Illinois to P.O. Box 557819, Chicago 60655 as soon as possible and note “special raffle” in the memo section. You can also contact any board member for tickets. We will mail your ticket after we receive your donation. With the limited amount of tickets being sold, be sure to send your money in as soon as possible. We will also have tickets available on a first come, first serve basis at the St. Patrick’s Day party.
This mailing was sponsored in part by Phil Vaughn
