Mayo Society Of New York
48-45 63rd Street • Woodside, New York 11377
132nd Annual St. Patrick’s Ball
to be held on
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Antun’s, 96-43 Springfield Boulevard • Queens Village, N.Y. 11429
Honorees
Fr. Tom Basquel, Aughagower, Co. Mayo
Noreen Lydon O’Donoghue, Tourmakeady, Co. Mayo
January 23, 2011
The Mayo Society of New York will pay tribute to two outstanding Mayo people at our society’s 132nd Annual St. Patrick’s Ball on March 12, 2011. Noreen Lydon O’Donoghue will be honored as our Mayo Woman of the Year and Thomas Basquel, C.S.Sp. as our Mayo Man of the year. This event will take place at Antun’s, 96-43 Springfield Blvd, Queens Village, NY. Cocktails are at 7.00pm followed by dinner and dancing at 8.00pm. Noel Henry’s Irish Show Band featuring vocalist Kevin Prendergast will provide the music for this evening’s celebrations.
Noreen Lydon O’Donoghue, A native of Tourmakeady, Co Mayo, Noreen arrived in New York City in 1963, and began a long career of community service benefiting friends and strangers both far and near. Noreen combines hands-on service with leadership and lobbying. She founded the Woodlawn chapter of The Irish Immigration Reform Movement in 1987, and is a co-founder and now Executive Board member of the Emerald Isle Immigration Center’s (EIIC) in 1988 Woodside, Queens, And the Woodlawn office in 1993. She takes great pride in their success in providing a wide range of services to the community. Her commitment to the Irish-American community is evident, not only through her work with the EIIC, but with her membership in The Mayo Society of New York, The Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians Tarrytown, Div 11; her participation in The American-Irish Association of Westchester, Make-a- Wish Foundation: her passion for set dancing, traditional Irish music, instruction in the Irish language, in which she is fluent.
Thomas Basquel, C.S.Sp. The son of Michael and Kathleen Basquel, Tom is from Aughagower, near Westport in County Mayo. One of nine brothers and four sisters, Tom entered the Holy Ghost Congregation after high school. As part of his preparation for the priesthood, Tom spent two years in Nairobi, Kenya where he returned after his ordination in 1976 at St Patrick’s Church in Aughagower. According to legend, the last person to be ordained there was St Patrick! Tom held several positions in London and Dublin before heading to New York in 1996. Tom moved to the Brooklyn diocesan after a year and became a participant in the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, attending meetings in Washington, Philadelphia, the Bronx and Woodside. In 2001, Bishop Daly asked the Holy Ghost Fathers to take over St. Mary’s Parish in Woodside, and appointed Fr. Tom as Parochial Vicar. He immediately embraced the Irish community, celebrating all milestones of life. In 2006, Tom was appointed Superior and Provincial Delegate of the Irish Holy Ghost Fathers in America. He now visits eight states, checking on the wellbeing of all his confreres.
Tickets are $85 per person or a table of ten for $850.
For reservations, please contact Rita Lydon Lenz, 718-565-9251.
For additional information, please contact Journal Co-Chairs:
Mary Lydon at 718-728-7924
or Jim Lombard at 646-263-1733.
Rita Lydon-Lenz & Michael S. Regan Mary P. Coyne
Dinner Dance Co-Chairs President