Presidents Message January 2020:
Brothers of the Major Dooley Division,
Happy New Year to all and welcome to a new decade 2020. I am proud and excited take over the Presidency of the Dooley Division, Virginia’s largest AOH division. 10 years ago last month I was initiated into the Dooley Division and have always enjoyed carrying out the history and traditions of our Irish heritage and living our motto of Friendship, Unity and Christian Charity. I would like to thank all Past Presidents and Officers for bringing the Dooley Division to this point, particularly Steve McGann and Scott Nugent, who made my job as Vice President for the last two years very easy.
We start out the new year moving immediately into our busiest season. On January 14th at 7:00 PM our first Business Meeting of 2020 is scheduled at St. Michael’s Lake House and January 25th at 3:30 PM we hold our first social event, the Dooley Wreath Laying Ceremony at Maymont followed by a presentation by Major Dooley biographer Dr. Lynn Bayliss. She is the leading expert on the life, work and philanthropy of Major Dooley. Learning more about our divisional namesake, of course, calls for a gathering at Rare Olde Times immediately following to compare notes.
With the importance of the raffle to the functioning of the Division, for the first time we will be selling raffle tickets over two weekends at Saint Michael’s at all Masses on January 18-19 and 25-26. Our Webmaster Brother Pat Shea has created an excellent tool for managing and planning our ticket sales efforts with the sign-up sheet on the Division website (aohrichmond.org). I encourage all Brothers to utilize the sign-up tool in an effort to plan and maximize our raffle sales at all of the parishes.
2020 will be another excellent year of Brotherhood, Charity and living our Catholic Faith and proud Irish Heritage. I am looking forward to it.
In Friendship, Unity and Christian Charity,
Mike Canning
