THE ROUND TABLE -- ARCHIVE, 2000
November 16, 2000
As the holiday season approaches, let's take a look back on the year that was 2000.
We had a lot of interesting things happen this past year. Janine Meehan got married, Jim and Alice Ryan renewed their wedding vows, and Jim and Pat Ryan BOTH got engaged. No truth to the rumor that Jim and Alice were pushing for those engagements to make sure they could keep
their "empty nest."
We cut down a little on parades this past year - I'm sure all of you Long Island folk have missed us - but will probably be back to a full schedule next year (hopefully with contests!!!) That being said, we did increase our workload in the Lindenhurst area. I believe the last count was 5 parades down Wellwood Avenue. You'd think after the third one there would have been an uprising from the neighbors. How many gigs are we supposed to play again for the Legion? Do they add one per year for every year we practice there?
We just had our 29th Anniversary Piper's Ball. I think we finally figured out the right formula for these things - less talk, more music! Congratulations to everyone for putting on another great show.
Our Band Member of the Year for 2000 was Mike Patton. Mike has been marching with the band for about three years now and has been a great addition to the group. At age 10, he is the youngest Band Member of the Year, to date - and a well-deserved one at that. Keep up the good work, Mike.
Have a great holiday season everyone, Abba is next. Good night.
---- September 28, 2000
Once again, I have shirked my responsibilities to the
group and fallen behind on my Round Table updates.... let's see. What's
happened since June 14?
Well, true to their word, Janine and Ted got married -
now we have Janine Meehan Perez. Kind of rolls off the tongue, doesn't
it? And, after much thought, Jim Ryan, Sr. decided to finally make an honest
woman of Alice and take the plunge - I guess 35 years is long enough. That
covers the nuptials. Hmmm..... what else.....
Ah yes! We have been contracted to participate in the
Long Beach Irish Parade on October 7th!! Legend has it the event is not
to be missed, and, with the hard work and diligence of Kevin Graham, we
won't miss it this year. We're looking forward to a big turnout
- even without the St. James Meehan's. I guess they'll be visiting the
Perez family that weekend.
On a much sadder note, yet another Meehan child has ventured
off to college. Katie follows in her two brother's footsteps, off to Boston
College. Speaking of her two brother's, when are they playing at Carnegie
Hall? Kevin and Mike have turned into genuine Irish Rock stars! Contact
Bill Meehan for a copy of their latest CD. (They seemed like such nice
boys, too).
Start getting yourself ready for the Piper's Ball. Saturday,
October 28th, we'll be celebrating 29 years of piping and drumming. We've
added a little twist to the music this year - so pipers, get down to the
hall to pick it up. And after the Ball, are you ready for this? THE CONTEST
SET!
Mother's, lock up your children .... after
taking a one
year hiatus from the contest scene, the ACPB will make it's triumphant
return to Grade V. Our fearless leader, Jim Ryan, is currently in the
process of putting together a set that should be at a level where most
everyone will be able to join us in the 2001 contest year. I'm getting
all goose-pimply... Let's get it on.
That's all for now. I'll be back in another 4 months...
---- June 14, 2000
Well now... did you miss me? The Round Table is back -
and so is the summer parade season. The folks in Lindenhurst are starting
to look very familiar to some of us. Three parades in that quaint little
village in a 13 day span. I think we've all seen enough of Wellwood Avenue
to last us until next Memorial Day.
For those of you who have been down there, you know that
Wednesday nights have been pretty consistent. We just need to get the rest
of the band back on the horse. It was great to see Kevin and Mike Meehan
at the parade Saturday. Hopefully, Kevin will be able to get us all Islander
tickets. No Pressure. Really. Good luck at the new job with Computer Associates.
And congratulations to Katie Meehan (a bit early, but I think we can sneak
it in). Katie will be graduating from Smithtown High School in the coming
weeks, and following in her brothers footsteps off to Boston College. Just
wondering - do Bill and Kathy Meehan get a volume discount on tuition?
And the congratulations don't stop there for the vast Meehan family. Jack
Meehan has finally hung up his teaching tools. Congratulations on your
retirement. That should cover all of the kudos. Right? No - wait.... I'm
forgetting something..... Oh Yeah! Congratulations to Jim (Snoopy) Ryan
and Deb Llewellyn on their engagement. I think we're in line for Goofy to
perform the ceremony next May - as it stands right now.
We have a lot to look forward to in the next few months.
Jim and Alice Ryan will be renewing there wedding vows after 35 years of
"blissful" marriage. And Janine Meehan and Ted Perez are due to tie the
knot on August 5th. It should be an eventful summer indeed.
We have another full parade schedule for the
summer, and
hopefully we'll have the kind of turnout we saw on Memorial Day. See you
all on the parade route! ---- March 26, 2000
What an incredible St. Patrick's Day parade season!!!
We got some really great weather for most of it. Naturally, though, it
SNOWED at the big one. Poor Deb Llewellyn is STILL recovering... We had
a great group out there on the 17th. Congratulations to three newcomers
to the pipe corps: Tom Patton, Brendan McMillen, and Kevin Krumholz. Great
job, guys. The future looks great for the ACPB!!! We also had a chance
to see a couple of old-timers in NYC- Janine and Sean Meehan - to go along
with the newbies, and had two of our biggest fans march with us as well.
In all, a great time was had by everyone - even without tone-guy playing
up to par.
We seem to have discovered a new crowd pleaser! The drummers
call has been broken out for street performances now, and the response
has been great. Congratulations to Lane and Lucille for making us better
and better every time out. Turns out the drummers DO add something, after
all....
So now what? We wait for the Memorial Day Parade and the
start of the summer season. In the meantime, more practices like last Wednesdays
would be a great boost for everyone. For those who attended, I'm sure they've
been singing O'Donnell Abu in their heads for the past week. For those who
didn't, be careful, the newbies could catch up pretty quick and pass right
by you. I've seen it happen.
So don't put those pipes away just yet. Get on down to
practice Wednesday nights and keep the momentum going. See you next week. ----
March 3, 2000
Well, the 2000 St. Patrick's Day season is finally upon
us, and the band looks a bit different from past years. With a few more
kids in the pipe ranks, and a few less Meehans in the line of march (college
kids....killin us.), Y2K promises to be an interesting year.
A lot has happened since the last Round Table entry. Apparently,
wave had man walk on the moon, there's this new invention called a com-poo-ter,
and diesel fuel is no longer a primary source of energy. Well, it hasn't
been that long, but wave waited quite a while.
The most notable event of the offseason was the appearance
of James Ryan, Jr. on the Kennedy Center Honors. Playing with the City
of Washington, Jim was one of two from the band who had his mug up close
and personal with the viewing audience (Chris Hamilton was the other).
Luckily for us, the event coincided with our Christmas party, so we had
the honor of being in The Great Ones presence at the time of airing. In
all actuality, it was a pretty cool moment.
I hope everyone is getting geared up for the March Season.
It promises to be bitter cold and very long. I'm sure were all looking forward
to the night of a thousand dances on the 11th. Pipes should be in fine
shape by Rockville Center!
----
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