The Vixens Basketball Club would like to thank sincerely the Ladies Monthly Night Out group for their generous donation which was presented to them at Brown Joe’s Bar by Teresa O’Halloran and Mark Reidy. It was greatly appreciated.
CFRs AGM
The AGM of the Community First Responders (CFRs) will be held in the Hall on Thursday 1st December at 8:30pm. Everyone is most welcome. It is a great opportunity for the public to hear of the group’s activities over the past year, new developments, and to ask about learning emergency life saving skills.
St. Vincent de Paul Church Gate Collection
The St. Vincent de Paul annual collection takes place this weekend Sat. 3rd/ Sun.4th December. Your support for this worthy cause would be greatly appreciated.
Noonan’s Lights
Tony, Hannah & Siobhán are holding their annual Children’s Christmas Party on Sunday next Dec. 4th at 4pm. Santa will arrive by sleigh with a Garda escort. There will be free presents and treats for the kids and complimentary food for the adults. The Carrigkerry Wrenboys will entertain the crowd and the family have issued an open invitation to all to come along and enjoy
Athea Senior Citizens Christmas Party
Takes place on Wednesday 7th December at the Top of the Town Bar. Starting with Concelebrated Mass in the Top of the Town at 12.30pm sharp and dinner served at 1.30pm. Music by Blue Rhythm. Spot Prizes galore! Dinner, Afternoon Tea, Song and Dance all for €10 per Person! Names for Catering purposes to be given to Rose Enright, Peggy Casey, Mary Kelly or any Committee Member before Friday 2nd December. There is a choice of main course this year, Turkey or Beef so please state your choice when you give your name in.If anyone wishes to donate spot prizes it would be greatly appreciated, they can be given to any of the committee members.
Best of luck
To Athea/Mountcollins Rangers team who play the West U21 A final against St. Senans this Saturday at 3pm in Dromcollogher. Please give them your support.
Following Trends
Do we have to follow everything the Americans do? We have adopted much of their language into our vocabulary not to mention their dress code and their eating habits. There are two American ideas that get on my nerves. One is Halloween and the other is Black Friday. Halloween was always celebrated in Ireland with the brack, nuts and a few party games such as “snap apple”. There was no such thing as “ trick or treat” ,which is tantamount to begging, and no pumpkins. There is also an unhealthy obsession with ghouls, goblins, witches and scary monsters that has nothing to do with the feast itself. This is all imported and due to the influence of American TV, especially the programmes for younger viewers. The latest import is Black Friday. This was thought up in America as a way of boosting sales after Thanksgiving Day. It was traditionally the time businesses got into the black after the Summer season. Now we have aped that as well even though we don’t have thanksgiving day here. The idea is to give the impression that there are great bargains to be had in this big sale and one would be a fool not to avail of them. Joe Duffy devoted a lot of time to this last week and his researchers discovered that if there were any reductions they were minimal and most of the products could have been bought months ago at the same or a smaller price. I have personal knowledge of one item; a bicycle that could be bought in England for £60 was on sale at their Irish outlet at a whopping €195. Is it any wonder the likes of Tesco will not reveal the profits on their operation in Ireland. Whiz kids have been wracking their brains to find new ways of parting us from our money and they are succeeding. We are paying more for commodities without realising it. It would appear that the cost of an item has not been increased but on examination one will find that the proportions are smaller. This is true of chocolate bars, biscuits, cosmetic bottles and many other tins and cans which have all shrunk in size. Without being aware, we are forced to buy the same product more frequently. There is also the coupon scam. Buy more than a fixed amount and you will get a coupon worth a small amount to take off your next bill. The purpose of this is not to reduce your cost but to ensure that you return to that store for your next big shop. They will make far more out of repeated custom than the few Euro they give away.
While I am on about following trends, what is the sudden fascination with beards for young men? I suppose the role models, footballers and movie stars, are the trend setters here. A few years ago it was the bald head and young men with great hair shaved it off. Back in the ‘70s it was long hair and side locks. Now there is another silly style called the “man bun”. It is a ridiculous look and some people who have it now will look back in years to come and wonder why they were so silly. And finally I come to the ladies. Do you really all have to be perched above on six inch heels trying to balance while doing serious damage to your feet. It is funny to watch girls trying to walk the streets in these heels. The gait is totally unnatural so I hope that soon common sense will prevail and some celebrity will start a trend of more sensible footwear. That is the end of my rant for this week.
Brendan Ferriter R.I.P.
The death of Brendan Ferriter took place in his native Balliferriter, West of Dingle, last week. His wife Treasa was buried just a few months ago. Many in Athea will remember him from his time teaching here and in Knocknagorna. I got to know him through Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann. He was chairman of the Munster Council when I took the job of Reachtaire na Mumhan (Munster organiser) when I returned from England in 1972. He was teaching in Castlemaine at the time and when he discovered I was from Athea he made me more than welcome in his home there. We spent many an hour (and many a glass of whiskey) talking about Athea and the people here. He loved the place and was always enquiring for people from the area. He lodged with Tom Denihan, the parish clerk. Tom was one of the great characters and Brendan was very fond of him and had many yarns about their time together. One of the reasons he liked Athea so much was the way people used to talk. He said we spoke Irish through the medium of English and that was true in the middle of the last century. He did great work for Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann especially the singing. Sympathy is extended to his family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam
Domhnall de Barra