An Ancient Order

The Freeman’s story today about Mayor Jim Sottile’s “credit” on the costs of police overtime for organizers of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade will certainly stir some critics as the $1,000 break comes after the Rondout Business Association pulled its parade due to costs.

In the Freeman story, alderman Robert Senor said the move by the mayor was a “slap in the face” to the Rondout businesses.

Debacle aside, what was interesting to learn was that Sottile, Senor and council president James Noble are all members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, which are the organizers of the St. Patrick’s parade.

This is a reminder that Kingston is a tightly knit community, with deep immigrant roots. Organizations such as the AoH not only organize parades, but work as a community group on a variety of projects.

The Ulster County chapter’s website has a detailed history page on the organization that says the national AoH is the oldest Catholic lay organization in the country. Read about it here.

The national AoH website has even more information, including an archive and can be seen here.

2 thoughts on “An Ancient Order”

  1. To me this reeks of the ‘good ole boy’ secret society loophole that runs rampant and unchecked in Kingston. The mayor can phrase it and rationalize it any way he wants. It will not change the fact that it is unfair and a insult to the various groups that typically participate in celebrations throughout the city on a yearly basis. What is good for the goose is obviously not good for the gander in this scenario.

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  2. I’m posting this at about 2 pm on Saturday. I just came from the Mardi Gras celebration at the MARITIME MUSEUM on the Strand!
    The place is hopping! WBPM is there having a raffle and the woman next to me won $100 while I was standing there!
    There is LOADS of parking available! I parked right outside of the museum You have to see Steve Ladin”s sculpture of his dog! the ice sculptures are the best ever!
    Put on some beads ( preferably over clothing, but streaking is a bit of a Mardi Gras tradition) and try to get there by 4 or 4:30 this afternoon, by which time some of the music will have arrived and we will be in Full Festive mode! We have beadsm we have food, we have tons of crushed ice, and we are having one AWESOME partay! Get there by 4 or so and see what else we got!!!!!!

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