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IRISH T icn e s - APRlL-CDAy. 2002 CDlLGSTONeS 3 Mary Casey Lynch SAG Irishwoman of the Year K o f E and D of E Award Scholars The Saturday Afternoon Gathering (aka SAG) is proud to announce that it has chosen Mary Casey Lynch as its Irishwoman of the Year. A native of County Cork, Ireland, Mary Casey emigrated to the United States at the ten der age of two. The Casey family lived briefly in Lackawanna, then moved to St. John the Evangelist Parish in South Buffalo. Mary gradu ated from St. John the Evangelist and from Mount Mercy Academy. A friendly and familiar face in South Buffalo and the Buffalo Irish Center, Mary Casey Lynch couldn’t remem ber when she first became a member of the center. “ I can remember bringing my daugh ter, Kim to swim in the pool here.” Kim is now married with a daughter of her own. Little Grace Catherine is the apple of her grandmother’s eye and the great-grandaughter of Catherine Casey, a long-time supporter of the Buffalo Irish Center. Mary Casey Lynch is a founding member of the Saturday Afternoon Gathering, a club that meets on Saturday Afternoons at the bar of the Buffalo Irish Center. When asked what these meetings entail, Mary recently explained “We talk a little, have a few drinks and laugh alot.” When the group decided to honor an Irishman or Irishwoman of the year, Mary was the unanimous choice. Stated president, Nellie Moran “We wanted to honor somebody who embodied what we believed important. Mary is an immigrant who loves both the land of her birth and the land where she lives. More importantly, she is a generous and compassionate person whom all of us love. The rea son we love her is because of the person she is. I believe that’s truly worthy of an award. Very often, awards are given for a single act of courage or sacrifice, some times they’re given as a public acknowledgement of financial support, sometimes they are given out of feeling of obliga tion or debt. That’s what awards are basically; a public acknowledgement of some thing good or important; a recognition of someone wor thy. That’s why Mary was the obvious choice: She is essen tial to us. This award isn’t for one day, or one act, it isn’t out of obligation or debt; it is out of appreciation and love.” Mary Casey Lynch is mar ried to Bill Lynch from West Seneca and an active member of both the Buffalo Irish Center and SAG Mary Lynch receives her plaque from John Kennedy Silver Fainne Achieved by Tom Callaghan At an Irish Immersion week end in February 2001 at Esopus New York, Tom Callaghan was awarded a silver fainne by Daltai na Gaielge. (In Irish the word fainne means ring or cir cle. A silver fainne recipient is recognized as having the ability to understand and to be under stood in the Irish Language. A small gold circle is awarded in recognition of a student’s flu ent ability) A Buffalo Irish Center stu dent, Tom has been studying the language of his forefathers for seven years. In addition to his regular weekly classes he jour neys three or four times a year to participate in the Esopus Irish Immersion weekends. He also participates in weeklong Immersion experiences each July at Wappinger Falls. Tom is a member of Comhaltas Ceoiltori Eireann and participates in the seisuns held at the Irish Center on the third Sunday of the month. He is a self-taught feadog stan ( tin whistle) player, and teaches workshops in the art of playing the tin whistle during the Esopus weekends and at our Irish Immersion Day in Buffalo. While in Esopus this past September he was invited to play his whistle in a candlelight ceremony in remembrance of the Sept. 11th tragedy. He was accompanied by harpist Margaret Phoehlman ( another BIC Irish student). He adapted, produced and directed the production of Caruil na Nollag (A Christmas Carol) as part of the Scoil Cultuir na hEireann Christmas Ceili at the Buffalo Irish Center in December. A south Buffalo boy, Tom earned an Ed.D in English Instruction from the University of Buffalo. He had been an edu cator for thirty-seven years; as a high school English teacher in East Aurora and an adjunct pro fessor of English at Hilbert College (fifteen years). Tom loves to learn and is a life-long learner. Besides the acquisition of Irish he is cur rently studying: how to reach the most resistant teenager; how to master traditional Irish music; how to memorize and recite challenging poetry in Irish; how to be a really GRAND grandfather; and how and where to find and snare that BIG fish. With his beautiful wife Molly (McNamara) he travels extensively and has plans to take high school students to Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, and other European countries this coming summer. On his road to a gold fainne Tom can be found each Wednesday leading a group of intermediate Irish language stu dents, coordinating the music during the Scoil Cultuir na hEireann language classes, and cracking puns (?) as Gaeilge. One would hope that Tom is the first of many of our stu dents to qualify to achieve a sil ver fainne. Scholarship Winners, from left: Kathllen Sheehan Ryan, Erin Comway, Meghan Crotty, Mary Martin, Patrick O’Malley, and M atthew Perrino. Not pictured, Clare Szydlowski. The Knights of Equity and the Daughters of Erin, Court 5 awarded the following scholar ships at the annual Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Dinner Dance. Erin Conway was spon sored by her parents, Patrick and Donna Conway. Erin is a senior at Williamsville South and has a career goal of becoming a doctor. She plans to pursue studies in the University of Rochester or Cornell University. Erin is an accomplished Irish dancer for Rince Na Tiarna School of Irish Dance. She has competed at many feisana and Oireachtas, where she has won many awards. Meghan Crotty was spon sored by her parents, Patrick and Anita Crotty. A senior at Mt Mercy Academy, Meghan plans to attend either John Carroll Uniiversity or Fordham to pursue a career as sports- caster. Meghan is an accom plished Irish dancer for Rince Na Tiarna School of Irish Dance. She has competed on several occasions at the World championships in Ireland where she won many awards including second place at the all-Ireland Competition in Ennis County Clare. Mary Martin was spon sored by her grandmother, Ann Martin and her aunt, Kathleen Frawley. Mary is a senior at Hutchinson Central Technical High School. She has been accepted into the engineering program at the University of Buffalo. For four years, Mary has been member of the soft ball team and Cross Country team at Hutch Tech. Mary has done volunteer work as a tutor in the schools and in both her parish and the Irish Community. Patrick O’Malley was sponsored by his aunt and uncle John and Maureen Fecio. He is a senior at St. Francis High School. He plans to attend UB, RIT or Catholic University to study Meehan ical/Aerospace Engineering. His goal is to become a Mission Specialist on a Shuttle. He is a member of the Franciscan Youth Ministry and plays trombone with the concert band and jazz ensem bles. Pat is a member of the Varsity Cross Country Indoor and Outdoor Track Team. Matthew Perrino was sponsored by his mom Theresa Perrino and his aunt, Chera Lachut. Matt is a senior at St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute. He was on the football team as well as the track team at St. Joe’s. He has done many hours of volunteer work with SABAH. He plans to attend Canisius College or Daemen College to study psychology. Kathleen Sheehan Ryan was sponsored by her parents Karen Cooley Ryan and Bernard Ryan. A senior at Mt Mercy Academy, Katie has chosen the Physicican’s Assistant Program at D’Youville College to pursue her goals. Katie is a member of the National Honor Society. She is a member of the varsity soccer and tennis teams. She has done numerous hours of volunteer service with her parish and the Irish Community. Katie is an accomplished Irish dancer for Rince Na Tiarna School of Irish Dance. She has won numerous awards including some from overseas. Clare Szydlowski was sponsored by her grandparents Maureen and John Carney. A senior at Aliso Niguel High School in Aliso Viejo. California, Clare plans to attend the University of California pursuing a degree in Fine Arts. Clare received the Esprit dc Wolverine Award as the top student in AP Language. She is member of the track and volley ball teams She does volunteer work in the community and for her parish.
