2007 New York City Saint Patrick's Day Parade

You have missed the best day of your life if you have never been in New York City on Saint Patrick's Day. You not only missed the best parade in your life, you missed a lot a happy people celebrating. On this day each year, all people claim to be Irish, no matter what your nationality. Other cities will parade and celebrate on Saint Patrick's Day, but none can compete with the Big Apple.

Congratulations to the 2007 New York City Saint Patrick's Day Parade Grand Marshal Raymond L. Flynn.

Saturday, March 17th 2007

Starting @ 44th Street and Fifth Avenue @11:00 a.m.

The Solemn Pontifical Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral <> 50th Street and Fifth Avenue @ 8:30 a.m.

Last years parade was dedicated to the fighting 69th- Taskforce Wolfhound who served in Iraq and the 19 who were killed in action.

Tribute to the "Fighting 69th Infantry", New York Army National Guard, The 69th Regiment of New York.

The Central Park transverse roads will stay open to traffic. Pedestrian crossing along the parade route will be allowed on 49th Street to 55th Street, 57th Street and 58th Street, 59th Street eastbound only and 60th Street westbound only.

Now Marching for the 246th Consecutive Year Up Fifth Avenue in New York City - Marched for the first time on March 17, 1762 - Sixteen Years before the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

This year Raymond L. Flynn will be the 2007 New York City Saint Patrick's Day Parade Grand Marshal.

The Parade will be reviewed from the steps of Saint Patrick's Cathedral by His Eminence Cardinal Edward Eagan, Archbishop of New York. It will also be reviewed from the Official Reviewing Stand at 64th Street and 5th Avenue.

The parade marches up 5th Avenue, clan by clan, from 44th to 86th streets starting at 11am on St. Patrick's Day (Saturday, March 17th).

Former Grand Marshal include: 2005 Grand Marshal Denis P. Kelleher, 2004 Grand Marshal Thomas W. Gleason and 2003 James G. O'Connor was the Grand Marshal the year before, and Mayor Bloomberg marched along with nearly 150,000 others proudly wearing the green, as millions gawk along the parade route and watch on TV.

Four year ago marked the 241st New York St. Patrick's Day Parade, the world's largest. Edward Cardinal Egan was the Grand Marshall, and Mayor Bloomberg will marched along with nearly 150,000 others proudly wearing the green, as millions gawk along the parade route and watch on TV.

Several years ago parade was dedicated to the 'Heroes of 9/11, ' including police, fire and all rescue workers. At around midday, the parade will pause for one minute as Cardinal Egan leads participants in a prayer from the reviewing stand at 64th Street and 5th Avenue. It's a reminder that St. Paddy's Day is a religious holiday back in the motherland, even though for New Yorkers it's a chance to party hardy like any good Irishman. There probably isn't a bigger day when green face paint, green food coloring, green nail polish, and green clothes are on display. And there's pure Irish pageantry, of course, led by the 165th Infantry (originally the 69th Regiment of the 1850's). You'll see the Ancient Order of Hibernians, 30 Irish county societies and various Emerald, Irish-language and Irish nationalist societies.

The parade marches up 5th Avenue, clan by clan, from 44th to 86th streets starting at 11am on St. Patrick's Day (Saturday, March 17th). It will probably be televised on NBC.

The first official parade in the City was held in 1766 by Irishmen in a military unit recruited to serve in the American colonies. For the first few years of its existence, the parade was organized by military units until after the war of 1811. At that point in time, Irish fraternal and beneficial societies took over the duties of hosting and sponsoring the event.

Originally, Irish societies joined together at their respective meeting places and moved in a procession toward St. Patrick's Old Cathedral, St. James Church, or one of the many other Roman Catholic churches in the City. However, as the years passed, the size of the parade increased and around the year 1851, as individual societies merged under a single grand marshal, the size of the parade grew sharply.

Each year a unit of soldiers marches at the head of the parade; the Irish 165th Infantry (originally the 69th Regiment of the 1850's) has become the parade's primary escort, and they are followed by the various Irish societies of the city. Some of the other major sponsors and participants in the parade are the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the thirty Irish county societies, and various Emerald, Irish-language, and Irish nationalist societies.

The annual parade down Fifth Avenue to honor the patron saint of Ireland is a New York tradition that dates as far back as 1766. The festivities kick off at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue at 11:00 am on Saturday, March 17th, with bagpipers, high school bands, and the ever-present politicians making their way up Fifth Avenue to 86th Street, where the parade will probably finish around 4:30 or 5:00 pm.

The best viewing spots are toward the north end of the parade route, away from the shopping and work-a-day crowds that throng the sidewalks below 59th Street. Try sitting on the upper steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a great view or catching a close-up view of the marchers where the parade turns east on 86th Street.

The New York Convention & Visitors Bureau says that the St. Patrick's Day Parade is the largest and most famous of the many parades held in the city each year.

Colonial New York City hosted the first official St. Patrick's Day parade in 1762, when Irish immigrants in the British colonial army marched down city streets. In subsequent years Irish fraternal organizations also held processions to St. Patrick's Cathedral. The various groups merged sometime around 1850 to form a single, grand parade.

The parade marches up 5th Avenue, from 44th to 86th streets starting at 11am on St. Patrick's Day (Saturday, March 17th). It will probably be televised on NBC.

History of Saint Patrick

We celebrate Saint Patrick's Day each year on March 17th. The festive holiday has everyone wearing green (so they don't get pinched) and chatting of four leaf clovers, shamrocks, lucky leprechauns, and kissing some big rock called a blarney stone. Does it all sound a bit strange? It did to me too but after a bit of research it all made sense. Here's what I found out.

Did you know that Saint Patrick's name at birth was Maewyn Succat? He was born somewhere near the end of the fourth century and took on the name Patrick or Patricus, after he became a priest, much later in his life. At the age of sixteen Maewyn Succat was kidnapped from his native land of Britain, by a band pirates, and sold into slavery in Ireland. Maewyn worked as a shepherd and turned to religion for solace. After six long years of slavery he escaped to the northern coast of Gaul.

In Gaul, Maewyn became Patrick (a more christian name) and studied in the monastery under St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre for twelve years. He came to believe that it was his calling to convert the pagans of Ireland to Christianity. St. Palladius was appointed to go to Ireland first but transferred to Scotland two years later opening up the door for Patrick. Patrick was about sixty years old when he arrived in Ireland and it is said that he had a winning personality that helped him win converts. He used the shamrock, which resembles a three-leafed clover, to help explain the concept of the Trinity (father, son, holy spirit).

Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries and setting up schools and churches to aid in converting the Irish country to Christianity. Legend has it that Saint Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland. Evidently, they all went into the sea and drowned. The snake is a pagan symbol and perhaps this is a figurative tale explaining that he drove paganism out of Ireland.

Patrick's mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. He then retired to County Down and died on March 17 in 461 AD. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since. The first year St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in this country was 1737 in Boston, Massachusetts. As the saying goes, on this day "everybody is Irish!" Over 100 U.S. cities now hold Saint Patrick's Day parades.

Shamrock

St. Patrick used the shamrock leaf to symbolize the Trinity, and today many people wear a shamrock to commemorate Saint Patrick's Day.

Blarney Stone

So what's all this talk of kissing the Blarney Stone?

Blarney Castle is located in County Cork, Ireland. Built in 1446 by Cormac Laidhim McCarthy (Lord of Muskerry) the Blarney stone is located in the southern tower wall between the main castle wall and the parapet. In order to kiss the stone one has to lie on their back and bend backward (and downward), holding iron bars for support. It is said that the Blarney stone has magical properties. As legend has it an old woman cast a spell on the stone to reward a king who had saved her from drowning. Kissing the stone gave the king the ability to speak sweetly and convincingly.

Leprechauns

Just what does a Leprechaun look like and why are they so special? A Leprechaun (Irish fairy) looks like a little old man. He's about 2 feet tall and dresses like a shoemaker with a cocked hat and leather apron. A Leprechaun's personality is described as aloof and unfriendly. They live alone and pass the time by making shoes. They're special because they also possess a hidden pot of gold.

If you listen closely for the sound of their hammer you might be able to capture one. If you do you can force him (with the threat of bodily violence) to reveal where he's hidden his treasure. Be careful! Do not take your eyes off him for if you do he will surely vanish and your hopes of finding his treasure will vanish with him.

Green

So why do we all wear green?

Probably because you'll be pinched if you don't! School children started this tradition. Green is also the color of spring, the shamrock and is connected with hope and nature.

The luck of the Irish

Want to be lucky this St. Patrick's Day? Follow this advice:

1. Find a four-leaf clover. 2. Wear green (so you don't get pinched). 3. Kiss the blarney stone. 4. Catch a Leprechaun if you can.

In honor of the festivities we leave you with this Irish blessing: May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow and may trouble avoid you wherever you go!

Irish Drinking Toast

"May the grass grow long on the road to hell for want of use.
May you live to be a hundred years, with one extra year to repent."

Geronimo at Fort Pickens

Noah's note: Fort Pickens is located on the West end of Santa Rosa Island in Northwest Florida. It's at the entrance when the Gulf of Mexico water comes into Pensacola Bay. It's six miles West of Pensacola Beach, and it's across the Bay from Pensacola Naval Base.

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Geronimo {jur-ahn'-i-moh}, or Goyathlay ("one who yawns"), was born in 1829 in what is today western New Mexico, but was then still Mexican territory. He was a Bedonkohe Apache (grandson of Mahko) by birth and a Net'na during his youth and early manhood. His wife, Juh, Geronimo's cousin Ishton, and Asa Daklugie were members of the Nednhi band of the Chiricahua Apache.

He was reportedly given the name Geronimo by Mexican soldiers, although few agree as to why. As leader of the Apaches at Arispe in Sonora, he performed such daring feats that the Mexicans singled him out with the sobriquet Geronimo (Spanish for "Jerome"). Some attributed his numerous raiding successes to powers conferred by supernatural beings, including a reputed invulnerability to bullets.

Geronimo's war career was linked with that of his brother-in-law, Juh, a Chiricahua chief. Although he was not a hereditary leader, Geronimo appeared so to outsiders because he often acted as spokesman for Juh, who had a speech impediment.

Geronimo was the leader of the last American Indian fighting force formally to capitulate to the United States. Because he fought against such daunting odds and held out the longest, he became the most famous Apache of all. To the pioneers and settlers of Arizona and New Mexico, he was a bloody-handed murderer and this image endured until the second half of this century.

To the Apaches, Geronimo embodied the very essence of the Apache values, agressiveness, courage in the face of difficulty. These qualities inspired fear in the settlers of Arizona and New Mexico. The Chiricahuas were mostly migratory following the seasons, hunting and farming. When food was scarce, it was the custom to raid neighboring tribes. Raids and vengeance were an honorable way of life among the tribes of this region.

By the time American settlers began arriving in the area, the Spanish had become entrenched in the area. They were always looking for Indian slaves and Christian converts. One of the most pivotal moments in Geronimo's life was in 1858 when he returned home from a trading excursion into Mexico. He found his wife, his mother and his three young children murdered by Spanish troops from Mexico. This reportedly caused him to have such a hatred of the whites that he vowed to kill as many as he could. From that day on he took every opportunity he could to terrorize Mexican settlements and soon after this incident he received his power, which came to him in visions. Geronimo was never a chief, but a medicine man, a seer and a spiritual and intellectual leader both in and out of battle. The Apache chiefs depended on his wisdom.

When the Chiricahua were forcibly removed (1876) to arid land at San Carlos, in eastern Arizona, Geronimo fled with a band of followers into Mexico. He was soon arrested and returned to the new reservation. For the remainder of the 1870s, he and Juh led a quiet life on the reservation, but with the slaying of an Apache prophet in 1881, they returned to full-time activities from a secret camp in the Sierra Madre Mountains.

In 1875 all Apaches west of the Rio Grande were ordered to the San Carlos Reservation. Geronimo escaped from the reservation three times and although he surrendered, he always managed to avoid capture. In 1876, the U.S. Army tried to move the Chiricahuas onto a reservation, but Geronimo fled to Mexico eluding the troops for over a decade. Sensationalized press reports exaggerated Geronimo's activities, making him the most feared and infamous Apache. The last few months of the campaign required over 5,000 soldiers, one-quarter of the entire Army, and 500 scouts, and perhaps up to 3,000 Mexican soldiers to track down Geronimo and his band.

The Apache Indians have always been characterized as fierce warriors with an indomitable will. It is not surprising that the last armed resistance by Native Americans came from this proud tribe of American Indians. As the Civil War ended the U. S. Government brought its military to bear against the natives out west. They continued a policy of containment and restriction to reservations. In 1875, the restrictive reservation policy had limited the Apaches to 7200 square miles. By the 1880's the Apache had been limited to 2600 square miles. This policy of restriction angered many Native Americans and led to confrontation between the military and bands of Apache. The famous Chiricahua Apache Geronimo led one such band. Born in 1829, Geronimo lived in western New Mexico when this region was still a part of Mexico.

All of Geronimo's band was to be sent to Fort Marion in St. Augustine. However, a few business leaders in Pensacola, Florida petitioned the government to have Geronimo himself sent to Fort Pickens, which is part of the 'Gulf Islands National Seashore'. They claimed that Geronimo and his men would be better guarded at Fort Pickens than at the overcrowded Fort Marion. However, an editorial in a local newspaper congratulated a congressman for bringing such a great tourist attraction to the city.

On October 25, 1886, 15 Apache warriors arrived at Fort Pickens. Geronimo and his warriors spent many days working hard labor at the fort in direct violation of the agreements made at Skeleton Canyon. Eventually the families of Geronimo's band were returned to them at Fort Pickens, and then they all moved on to other places of incarceration. The city of Pensacola was sad to see Geronimo the tourist attraction leave. In one day he had over 459 visitors with an average of 20 a day during the duration of his captivity at Fort Pickens.

Unfortunately, the proud Geronimo had been reduced to a sideshow spectacle. He lived the rest of his days as a prisoner. He visited the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904 and according to his own accounts made a great deal of money signing autographs and pictures. Geronimo also rode in the inaugural parade of President Theodore Roosevelt. He eventually died in 1909 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The captivity of the Chiricahuas ended in 1913

Quotes from Geronimo

"I was warmed by the sun, rocked by the winds and sheltered by the trees as other Indian babes. I was living peaceably when people began to speak bad of me. Now I can eat well, sleep well and be glad. I can go everywhere with a good feeling.

The soldiers never explained to the government when an Indian was wronged, but reported the misdeeds of the Indians. We took an oath not to do any wrong to each other or to scheme against each other.

I cannot think that we are useless or God would not have created us. There is one God looking down on us all. We are all the children of one God. The sun, the darkness, the winds are all listening to what we have to say.

When a child, my mother taught me to kneel and pray to Usen for strength, health, wisdom and protection. Sometimes we prayed in silence, sometimes each one prayed aloud; sometimes an aged person prayed for all of us... and to Usen.

I was born on the prairies where the wind blew free and there was nothing to break the light of the sun. I was born where there were no enclosures."

Tamper-Proof Drivers License

Federal Requirement for Tamper-Proof Licenses Will Raise Fees for Drivers by 2013

By ERIC LIPTON
Published: March 2, 2007

WASHINGTON, March 1 — Nearly 240 million Americans and legal residents will have to spend an estimated $20 more for a standardized and tamper-proof driver’s license by 2013 to comply with a proposed new federal rule issued Thursday.

Congress imposed the mandate for the new licenses in 2005, agreeing with the 9/11 Commission that terrorists’ access to fake licenses or state-issued identification cards made the 2001 plot easier to carry out.

But until now, the Department of Homeland Security had not issued rules governing the licenses’ security features or the documentation that will be required to get one. It also had not estimated the costs — about $14.6 billion to states and about $7.8 billion to individuals — of setting up the system called Real ID over the next decade.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, trying to address concerns raised by the states, said the department would allow those having trouble meeting the original May 2008 deadline to delay the start of the program until the end of 2009. But all states will still be required to replace all existing drivers’ licenses by 2013 — even those not up for renewal — if they want their licenses to be accepted as identification at airports or federal buildings.

“This is going to cost money — security does cost money,” Mr. Chertoff said Thursday. “But it is money well spent.”

To help the states get started, Mr. Chertoff offered up to $100 million in federal grants this year, although the money would come from antiterrorism funds already promised to the states. So far, only $40 million in federal aid has been provided for the program.

Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, who had advocated delaying the start of the program, praised the revisions.

“The department has finally recognized that it simply was unfair to impose this burden on the states,” Ms. Collins said Thursday on the Senate floor.

But the plan received largely negative reviews from state officials and civil liberties experts. “We have always known this law would be a nightmare for motorists and taxpayers, and President Bush’s rules have just confirmed that nightmare,” Gov. James E. Doyle of Wisconsin said in a statement Thursday, predicting “higher fees, longer lines, fewer D.M.V. centers, and a major headache when you go to renew your license.”

The National Governors Association said the federal aid Mr. Chertoff offered, representing about 10 percent of the cost in the first year and an unknown amount in future years, was woefully inadequate.

“It is a drop in a bucket,” said David Quam, the association’s director of federal relations, who estimated that the extra cost per person could reach $40. The cost of licenses now ranges from as much $85 in New York to as little as $4 in North Carolina, according to the AAA.

Representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union said the new identification cards would leave the nation less secure. That is because Homeland Security said in the proposed rule issued Thursday that it did not intend to require the encryption of biographic data contained in a machine-readable strip on the license.

“You will create greater security vulnerabilities for sophisticated terrorists than the ones we are closing,” said Timothy Sparapani, legislative counsel at the A.C.L.U.

Applicants will have to prove their address, date of birth and legal status in the United States with valid government-issued documents. Exceptions will be granted to people born before 1935 and in certain other cases, like people who were victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Before states can issue a new license, they will need to electronically confirm that the applicant’s documentation is accurate. That will require states or the federal government to create electronic databases of birth certificates, immigration records and other documents — a task that could be difficult to complete in time, some state officials said Thursday.

Mr. Chertoff said the proposed rule, which is on track to become final in several months, would give states the option to make it illegal for merchants to automatically collect biographic data from the licenses.

States will also be permitted to issue a different type of license for people who cannot confirm they are in the United States legally. But these would not be valid as a form of federal identification.

Several states including Maine and Montana, angry over the high cost of the program and concerns about privacy, are considering or have voted on legislation calling for the repeal of the law. Jim Guest, a Missouri state legislator helping coordinate the repeal effort in more than 30 states, said the revolt would continue.

“All of our concerns are still there,” Mr. Guest said.

The Stars and Stripes Forever
by John Philip Sousa

At the end of the 19th century the name of the American bandmaster and composer John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) was virtually synonymous with the music of marches.

John Philip Sousa was born on Nov. 6, 1854, in Washington, D.C. His father was Portuguese, his mother German. At the age of 10 Sousa began violin lessons and later studied music theory and composition. By the time he was 13 he could play a number of band instruments and enlisted in the Marine Band. He was playing in civilian orchestras as well and subsequently got a discharge from the Marine Band. At 18 he became director of the orchestra at a variety house in Washington and later led orchestras for a comedy troupe and for Morgan's Living Pictures.

In 1876 Sousa joined the orchestra conducted by Jacques Offenbach at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The musical sensation of the exposition, however, was Patrick Gilmore, and it was here that Sousa first heard and admired Gilmore's band. After playing for a number of Philadelphia theaters, Sousa returned to Washington in 1880 to become director of the U.S. Marine Band, a post he held for 12 years. He reorganized the band, altered its instrumentation, raised its prestige, and built up its library.

In 1892 Sousa formed his own band, capitalizing on his fame by calling it the New Marine Band. A concert band rather than a marching band, it made its first public appearance in September 1892 in Plainfield, N.J. Its initial season was only a moderate financial success, primarily because of an unwise selection of cities for the tour. The following year at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago the band attracted thousands of people to each concert. So popular were Sousa's programs that after a few weeks Theodore Thomas, the musical director of the exposition, canceled the more elaborate symphonic and choral events he had planned for the fair, feeling they could not compete. Charles Harris's sentimental ballad "After the Ball" became a national hit during the fair as played by Sousa; its success set a new trend in American popular music.

Soon Sousa's band, operating without any subsidy, proved an economic as well as a musical success. It played for most of the important expositions after 1893, made annual tours through the United States and Canada, and was acclaimed on four trips to Europe and on one venture around the world. Sousa was decorated by the crowned heads of Europe and by various academies and societies. When the United States entered World War I, he was made a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve.

Sousa's fame as a composer was related to his success as a bandleader. Although his marches earned him the title of "March King," he nevertheless was influenced strongly by the style of Offenbach. Sousa's renowned marches include The Stars and Stripes Forever, The Washington Post, The High School Cadets, and The Gladiator. These are characterized by a strong rhythmic propulsion, jaunty, memorable tunes, and more wideranging harmony than normally found in marches. Many of his best marches came from operettas, and some were originally sung. Sousa's exposure to Offenbach, coupled with the astonishing American success of Gilbert and Sullivan, convinced him to try composing for the stage. He wrote 10 comic operas, achieving greatest acclaim for The Bride Elect, El Capitan, and The Free Lance. For some of his operettas he wrote the lyrics and libretto as well. He composed many other works of miscellaneous variety and wrote three novels. His autobiography is considered among the most readable memoirs in American letters.

Like Patrick Gilmore, Sousa wanted to create commercial music for pure entertainment. His understanding of the great music of the past or of his own day was slight. He succeeded in bringing high-quality military music to the public, achieving an instrumentation for the concert band that permitted effects as soft as those of a symphony orchestra. Artistic results were of secondary importance to Sousa; his first concern was to entertain his audiences. During his 40 years as bandmaster, Sousa lifted the concert band to popular heights it had never attained before, grossed an estimated $40 million, and was one of the most respected musicians of his generation. He died on March 6, 1932, in Reading, Pa.