Happy New Year to all,
Can you believe that it is 2010 already? Time is just flying by. I can’t believe that the New Year is here. The Patriots have clinched their division again and the Colts just lost their first game. Maybe we will get to see the Pats play the Colts again. We will be opening the hall for all the Patriots playoff games. We will also be open for the Superbowl, hopefully with the Patriots in it.
Our last monthly meeting was our annual Christmas party and I must say that a great time was had by all. We had our annual holiday cash drawing which, once again, was a great success. Thanks to Pat Whalen for taking over the organizing of this event. Thanks to all of you who supported it.
The food at the Christmas party was wonderful, but just not enough. We had a bigger crowd than I had expected and as a result we had to reorder additional food from the Real Deal. In the end it seemed that everyone present had enough to eat and drink. After the drawing was complete some left a little happier than others.
Just a few days before the December meeting we had Sidewalk Sam and his assistant Russ in to add a little to the infamous mural. They did a great job, adding a Boston Police badge #1973, the Emerald Society logo, the American flag, the Irish flag and a banner which reads “Pride in our heritage”. Not only did they complete these in time for the meeting, but Sidewalk Sam also came to the meeting.
There had been a number of us (myself included) who thought that the mural really didn’t tell our story. We wanted the mural to tell everyone who came into the hall who and what we are. Previously the mural told a story of the Irish countryside, but we didn’t think it told anyone that we are Irish and Irish-American police officers. We met with Sam a number of times over the last year, and with a bit of a push from Danny Adams, we were able to not only agree on a design, but also bring it to fruition. Special thanks to Danny Adams for keeping the focus on this extremely worthwhile project and getting it done.
Many of you probably know Emmett McNamara from C-11. His father, Emmett McNamara Sr., who many of you also probably know, is recovering from a broken hip. At the time of printing he was in Braintree Hospital. I know he would love to see or hear from some of his friends from the Emerald Society. If you get a chance drop him a line or a note. The younger Emmett can be reached at C-11 for further contact information.
Feast of the Epiphany
Just a quick reminder that January 6th is the Feast of the Epiphany. In Ireland, the Feast of the Epiphany is also called Little Christmas or Woman’s Christmas. It is the day that the Magi, (Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, also known as the Three Wise Men) followed the star they had observed over Bethlehem to find Jesus Christ. They brought the Christ child gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Also, the “Twelve Days of Christmas” arises from the fact that the celebration of Christ’s birth runs from December 25th through January 6th.
Trivia night
Danny Adams will be hosting another Trivia Night on Saturday, January 9th, 2010. The only rules are that your team must have at least four players and you can’t get caught using your Blackberry. The cost is $10.00 per person with the proceeds being used to assist the ongoing improvements at the hall. These trivia nights are a lot of fun. You don’t want to miss out on a chance for bragging rights.
Emerald Society Hockey team
The Boston Police Emerald Society hockey team will be playing the Philadelphia Police on the ice at Fenway Park on January 6th at 10:15 in the morning. Admission is free and all are encouraged to attend. This is a chance to see a great hockey game in Fenway Park. As far as we are concerned, this game is as historic as the Bruin’s Winter Classic game. Let’s have a great showing. Spread the word.
Elections nominations
January is the month for nominations for officers for the upcoming year. I am hearing through the grapevine that we might have some new faces in the running this year. That will be wonderful to see. Last year was the first year in a while that we had people run for every spot on the e-board. That was very encouraging. Hopefully this year some of the spots will actually require a run-off.
This kind of election tells me that the Society is becoming more vibrant. It means people are getting actively involved. And to me that is what we need in order to grow stronger in the years to come.
To be nominated for an office you have to be physically present at the January meeting. Nominations are made in January and the election takes place at the February meeting, followed by the installation of the new officers at the March banquet.
The following positions will be available for the 2010 – 2011 year: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, a number of active E-board positions, two associate E-board positions, and two honorary E-board positions. Please consider giving of yourself for the upcoming year to help make our Society better and stronger.
Bar and rental issues
This issue is not one that I really wanted to bring up in the newsletter but I was asked to do so by a past president. When I was asked to write something about this issue, the purpose was intended to let our members know that we are listening and will address any complaints that we are made aware of. We want our membership to know that we represent all of you and if there is/are any issues, we will handle them quickly and professionally in order to maintain all the progress that we have made.
Over the last year or so we have made some major changes in the physical appearance of our bar as well as our operational procedures. Along with that have been increases in our regular operating expenses. It was brought to our attention recently that in order to sustain the progress we have made over the last few years we should be showing a better percentage of profit. Being cops and not being in the bar business our immediate fix was to raise prices. Since doing so, we have heard numerous complaints about, among other things, the price of the hall and the price of the drinks being too high.
Please keep in mind that if we are hearing ten complaints, there are probably another ten or twenty that we are not hearing. I am glad that people have told us that they think something isn’t right so that we can look and see what we can do to correct it. At this point, based on the complaints that we have heard, we have decided to put the hall rental prices back to where they were. That is $250.00 for members and $350.00 for non-members. We have also decreased some of the drink prices.
Since the auditing committee is charged with overseeing the expenditures of the bar, we have scheduled a joint meeting of them and the E-board on January 14th, 2010. The purpose of this meeting is to review the last year and figure out what we can do better in the year ahead of us. If you are a member of either of these boards, or a past president, we would welcome your attendance. The E-board will convene a quick meeting at 7:30 pm followed by the joint meeting at about 8:00 to 8:15 pm. We would appreciate if all those on these boards can make every effort to attend.
We apologize if we have caused any inconveniences for any of our members or your guests.
Direct withdrawal is coming soon
For any and all city of Boston employees, the city has agreed to withdraw your annual dues of $20.00 directly from your paycheck should you so desire to take advantage of this convenience. The annual fee will be withdrawn once a year during the first pay period in March. Thank you very much to all those who made this possible.
Whether you are a current, returning or new member, if you want to sign up for direct withdrawal you can do it now. If you are a new member, see your district delegate for an application. Your district delegates will be receiving the forms for direct withdrawal at the beginning of December. If you have any questions, they can be directed to your delegate or to me at mclaughlinf.bpd@cityofboston.gov. We need to get this list together and submit it to the city ASAP. Any new or returning members who sign up from December on will get the remaining part of this year free and their dues will go towards 2010
New website
Don’t forget to check out the Emerald Society’s new website, www.bpdemeraldsociety.com for continuous updates. There just isn’t enough room in this newsletter for all that is happening!! We are trying to update the website regularly and it has more info relating to both the Society as well as the policing profession in general. Any information that comes in after the monthly newsletter goes out will be put on the website.
Battle of the Bagpipe Bands
February 27th will be the date of the first annual “Battle of the Bagpipe Bands” from 1:00 to 5:00 pm at the St Nectarius Church hall across the street from 10 Birch Street. The bands will be dressing and lining up at our hall and marching across the street to compete. After the competition we will be hosting an after party from about 7:00 pm to midnight. Mark this date in your calendar. We are looking to have between ten to fifteen bands competing. This will be an early start to St. Patrick’s Day. It will be a great way for the entire family to celebrate their Celtic roots. More details will be in the next newsletter and in some of the local publications as well.
Slainte,
Frank McLaughlin
President, ESBPD