GAA Lotto
The final lotto draw of 2018 saw the numbers 4, 6, 14 and 18 drawn from the drum. There was no winner of the jackpot but there were six lucky dip winners of €50 each. They were Julie Monaghan, Sean Atkins, Alanna Power, Andrew Heffernan, Breda Keane and Gerald Cooke. The lotto will take a little break but will be back on January 13th with a fantastic jackpot of €12,500. What a great way to begin the New Year.
The committee and club would like to say a sincere thank you to all who have supported the lotto every fortnight and all who have helped to sell tickets.
The club would also like to invite you to join them at their club grounds from Monday January 17th to February 21st 2019 from 7pm to 9pm. The club has joined forces with Operation Transformation and the GAA for Ireland Lights Up to promote good health and well being by encouraging people to walk in a safe and well lit area. They will open up their facilities to all the community so come along and bring your friends and family.
Dawn Players.
Our local Dawn Players drama group are very busy rehearsing for their upcoming production of “Canaries”. This hilarious comedy will run from Wednesday January 30th to Saturday February 2nd and I will have further details in the coming weeks so stayed tuned for all the latest news. The group performed this play ten years ago and I can tell you that it went down very well so make sure you book your ticket early.
Christmas Masses.
Our church looks really beautiful and all set for our Christmas masses. On Christmas Eve mass will be at 9pm and Christmas morning mass will be at 10am. Our parish choir will sing at both masses and I am sure we will see many families reunited as loved ones return home for Christmas.
The Christmas collection for the support of the priests of our parish will be taken up during the Christmas masses and at the following weekend masses.
Community Alert AGM.
On Tuesday December 18th our local community alert group held their AGM. Although the group are very appreciative of the people attending the meetings the committee asked that everybody there would make a huge effort to bring along some extra people to the meetings. Before the election of officers it was announced that Jay Dowdall would be stepping down as Secretary for personal reasons. Albert Kearns was returned as Chairman and MJ Healy was returned as Treasurer. I was nominated and seconded as Secretary and so look forward to working with the group.
Invited guest speaker John Walsh gave a very interesting talk about the effects that drink and drugs can have on our young people and how while under the influence of these things they can turn to unnecessary violence. He spoke about the important role we all play in our young peoples lives by encouraging them not to overdrink and to walk away from trouble and fighting.
The committee also expressed their congratulations to Garda Alan Kissane who has recently been premoted and will sadly be leaving us. He has given tremendous support and help to the community alert group and we are all very grateful to him.
The next meeting of the group will take place on January 22nd in Ballyduff Community Centre at 7.30pm. The group has lined up a very interesting speaker for the meeting and that is former govenor of Mount Joy Mr. John Lonergan. The group hope to see a big crowd attend this meeting so you are encouraged to spread the word.
Greetings!
Again I would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and I hope that you all enjoy a safe, healthy and happy holiday. Please be mindful that Christmas is not a happy time for some people for many different reasons so a simple hug or a smile can be just what’s needed. People stress about giving the perfect present when sometimes all your family and friends want is your presence.
“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having in spirit become a child again at Christmas time.”