The robin family of Birch Street

A pair of robins built a nest atop the front-door light fixture at Birch Street Radio headquarters. Three chicks were born there, and in a little over a week, left the nest for adventures in the wilds of suburbia.

Sometime in mid-May we first noticed a bunch of twigs and scraps of paper and such piled on top of the light fixture. Dan cleared it away, but the next day there was another pile. After three rounds of this, a very well-formed nest appeared and we decided to let it be.

After seeing mama bird perched there off and on for a week or so, we discovered on May 21 that there were three chicks snoozing in the nest (first photo). Less than a week later, they were flexing their muscles and getting ready to leave (second photo, May 27).

That evening, Dan saw one of the chicks hopping across the lawn with one of its parents. By the next morning, all three were gone!

On a rainy Preakness day, race & party go on

Lisa serves the mint juleps

If you watched the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, you know it was raining in the Baltimore area that day. But the race went on, and so did the annual Preakness Party at Doug & Lisa's house.

For the 31st time(!), family and friends gathered for food, drink and conversation - and a short pause to watch a horse race on TV. Dolores writes: "We couldn't believe how many people showed up on such a gross day!"

With the rain keeping guests from spreading out over the yard, Lisa and Doug made use of the garage as well as the screened-in "summer house" to accommodate the guests. Come race time, most moved to the living room to crowd around the TV.

Exaggerator's victory ended not only Nyquist's bid for a Triple Crown, but Elizabeth's 10-year streak of winning picks in the party's betting pool!

A big birthday celebration for Kathy

-- Updated 5/24 with more photos --

Some three dozen family members and friends gathered in New York on Saturday to help celebrate a significant birthday.

Kathy's children, Genevieve, Vivien and Patrick, arranged the evening of fine food, drink and conversation at the downtown Valbella restaurant.

Kathy's crew

Here's an album of photos by Dan, Brien and Robert that captures some of the highlights of the evening.

Stephanie ends school year with concert, awards

As the school year wrapped up, Stephanie received awards for both her academic standing and her participation in the music program at Hilliard Darby High School.


At the school's Academic Awards presentation, Stephanie was among those recognized for having GPAs of 3.75 or higher for the year.


And following the end-of-year band concert, Stephanie received an award for "Outstanding Sophomore."

Moms & daughters on Mother's Day

We're catching up with a couple of nice photos from Mother's Day last week.

Here's Bea with her Mom (Genevieve), Grandma (Kathy) and Godmother (Vivien).

Visiting Columbus for Stephanie's confirmation, Dolores was treated to Mothers Day brunch by her daughters, Julie and Cathy.

Stephanie receives confirmation

Stephanie was confirmed on Saturday (May 7) at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church in Dublin, Ohio.

Confirmands from several Columbus-area parishes received the sacrament from Rt. Rev. Thomas Breidenthal, bishop of the Diocese of Southern Ohio.


Stephanie's godmother, Aunt Julie, and grandparents Hugh and Dolores joined proud mom Cathy at the service.


A reception followed in the parish hall, and the family members later went out for a celebratory lunch and visited together for the rest of the day.

Dolores teaches, judges at Needlearts assembly

Dolores awards a ribbon

Hugh writes: Dolores and I recently returned from eight days at the National Academy of Needlearts (NAN) Assembly in Troy, Michigan.

While there, Dolores taught a four day workshop called Exploring Creativity or “Designing out of the box.” The class size was larger than the photo shows because creativity causes the students to spread out.

Teaching a workshop

Dolores also awarded a ribbon to an exhibitor in The Exemplary - the NAN exhibit of needlework. The award, which the organization has named after Dolores and which she selects, is given to an original entry that demonstrates creative use of color and design in any medium.

Genevieve back to work; new adventure for Bea

Bea explores daycare

Genevieve has returned to work after spending the past year as full-time mom to her daughter, Bea.

"I feel very lucky to have been home for so long and still have my job to go back to," said Genevieve, manager of foundation relations and stewardship at the New York Public Library.

"Bea started at a daycare close by. ... She's doing pretty well! Her teachers report that she is very strong-willed!"

 

Catching up with Nolan

One happy boy! Nolan, April 7

Gerrit and Angela's son, Nolan, is nearly nine months old now and - as seen in these photos posted recently by his proud dad and grandfather Owen - growing quickly and having a great time!

Msgr. Gallagher, beloved priest, has passed away

The Reverend Monsignor John A. Gallagher, the retired longtime pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Yonkers, passed away on April 1.

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Update: Brien and Dan attended the funeral Mass at St. Paul's on April 6. The church was packed with parishioners past and present and others who knew Msgr. Gallagher. The main celebrant was Bishop Gerald T. Walsh, the Archdiocese of New York's episcopal vicar for parts of Westchester County. He was joined by 38 other priests. The homily was given by Msgr. Patrick Carney, retired pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Hartsdale, a long-time friend of Msgr. Gallagher. Some 30 or so nuns of the Sisters of Life also attended and provided a choir for the service.

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Those of us family members who grew up in St. Paul's parish fondly remember "Father Gallagher." He was just a few years out of seminary when Daniel and Lorraine moved into the parish in the late 1950s to raise their family. At the time, he was the most junior of three priests assigned to St. Paul's, and frequently visited the parish school where Danny, Kathy, Brien and Kevin were all students. He also oversaw the training and scheduling of altar boys.

Father Gallagher later became Monsignor Gallagher and pastor of St. Paul's, serving in that capacity for 25 years before retiring in 2003. During that time, Kevin and his wife, Kathy, were raising their own family in the parish, and Shanna and Kevin also attended St. Paul's School.

Msgr. Gallagher poses with family members at McLean Avenue St. Patrick's Parade in 2012

On the light side, he was known for speeding through the standard prayers at Mass and giving scholarly but convoluted sermons. Much more importantly, he was a devout, kind and caring minister to his parishioners. We especially remember his visits during Daniel's final illness. Although retired, the monsignor celebrated Daniel's funeral Mass.

2007 NY Daily News photo

Behind the scenes, his life story was quite extraordinary. Msgr. Gallagher was the longtime primary caregiver for his brother, Matthew, who was profoundly disabled from birth. His devotion to his brother is detailed in this 2012 article from Catholic New York.

Msgr. Gallagher wrote a book about his life with Matthew, titled "On Becoming a Person." It was featured in a 2007 article in the New York Daily News. Matthew passed away a few years ago.


Here is Msgr. Gallagher's obituary in the Westchester newspapers.

Vivien makes a career move

Today is Vivien's birthday, and along with wishing her the best, we'll take the opportunity to pass along an update on her career.

Vivien recently started as new job as catering sales manager at the InterContinental New York Barclay hotel in Manhattan.

The InterContinental is just across East 49th Street from the Waldorf-Astoria, where Vivien previously worked. She joined the Waldorf in the fall of 2013 as a catering coordinator. Previously, she worked at the Lexington Brass restaurant and at Brookdale Senior Living.

Happy Easter to all our family

Brien's Annual St. Patrick's Parade Watch Party

What's everyone looking at?

The annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on McLean Avenue in Yonkers marches right past Brien's apartment, and for a fourth consecutive year, he hosted a parade-watch party for family and friends.

The parade gets bigger each year, and so does Brien's party! Owen came down from Massachusetts and Austin came up from Florida to join the festivities this year, and Beatrice made her debut.

Here's an album of photos from this Great Day for the Irish.

Stephanie performs in clarinet ensemble

From Clarinet Solo & Ensemble

As promised, Cathy sends us this video of Stephanie performing in a clarinet ensemble at the Hilliard Darby High School Winter Band Concert. This is "Finale" by Mozart. Very impressive!

Update from the Saratoga side of the family

Dan reports: I called Aunt Pat on her birthday March 4 - but she was out celebrating! We caught up a few days later. She said she is doing well, and updated me on her daughter Mary, grandchildren Brennan, Brienna and Shannon, and great-grandchildren Brooklyn Rae, Brennan Alexander and Cash.

Mary is very busy but enjoying her role as director of the Stepping Stones 1 Head Start facility in the Lansingburgh section of Troy, N.Y.  "It's a lot of work but she loves it," her mother said.

Shannon's senior photo

In October, Mary traveled to St. Thomas for a week-long conference. The days were filled with work sessions, but she managed to squeeze in some swimming every day. Mary also continues to coach the swimming team at the Saratoga Regional YMCA.

Shannon is now a senior at Catholic Central High School, also in Troy. She and Mary commute together from Saratoga to Troy. After graduation this spring, Shannon's plan is to join the U.S. Air Force.

Shauna Rae's birthday in January

Brennan, an ex-Marine, is currently studying at Schenectady Community College and coaching sports at Gloversville Middle School. After completing his service in late 2014, he was employed at the GlobalFoundaries semiconductor plant in Malta until a recent wave of layoffs there.

Brennan's wife, Shauna Rae, recently completed her B.A. at Empire State College and works in the Gloversville school system. They live in nearby Broadalbin. Their 4-year-old daughter, Brooklyn Rae, is in pre-school and will start kindergarten next fall. Their son, Brennan Alexander, will have his second birthday in July.

Brienna is currently working at the Saratoga Casino and Raceway. She had worked for several years at a local restaurant, but it recently closed. Her son, Cash, is also four and in pre-school, and will start kindergarten in Saratoga in the fall.

Aunt Pat sends her best wishes to all the family!

Beatrice celebrates first birthday

March 4, 2015

Genevieve and John's daughter Beatrice celebrated her first birthday this past weekend.

"Can't believe how time has flown," said her mom. No kidding!

Stephanie excels in clarinet performance (Updated)

From Clarinet Solo

Cathy provides this video of daughter Stephanie giving a clarinet performance at her church.

"This is the piece Stephanie performed last month for the Ohio Music Education Association Solo & Ensemble event. She received a score of Excellent," Cathy writes. "She performed it in church this morning and received thunderous applause and numerous accolades!"

The piece, "Allegro Moderato, Concerto No. 1" by C.M. von Weber, is about six minutes long and quite beautiful. Watch and enjoy the music!

This week, Stephanie will be performing an ensemble piece at the Hilliard Darby High School Winter Band Concert, so we look forward to seeing more video.

(This post has been updated to include the name of the work and to correct that Stephanie's performance last month was at an OMEA judged event.)

Julie sets out on new career path

Logo by Christine

After years of working for advertising agencies large and small, Julie has set up her own business, Franchise Falcon.

As a franchise consultant, Julie works to connect entrepreneurs with franchise companies that match their interests and experience.

As stated on the Franchise Falcon website: "Just as a falcon surveys the landscape to find exactly what it’s hunting for, our 'bird’s eye' view of the franchise market can help locate the best opportunity for you."

Franchise Falcon is part of a network that represents about 500 franchising operations in a wide range of businesses, including senior care, educational services, auto repair, hair styling and many other fields.