COMMUNITY ALERT.
Our local community alert group will hold their next meeting on Tuesday September 19th at 8pm in Ballyduff Community Centre. This will be the AGM for the group, and it is hoped as many as possible will attend. There will also be a very interesting presentation by Ann Marie Veale who is a consultant for the HSE for the Alzheimers Society. The community alert group is a very important part of the community, and their text alert scheme provides a vital service. All are welcome to attend this meeting.
BRIDGE NEWS.
The Ballyduff and Kilmeaden Bridge club have returned and on Monday September 11th in Ballyduff Community Centre the members gathered after their summer recess. The results of the game were as follows:
1st: Joan Hartery and Nano Fitzgerald
2nd: Kathleen Collins and Patsy Roche
3rd: Anne Marie Brown and John Fitzpatrick.
Joint 4th Winners: Mary Prendergast and Geraldine McMahon
and Peggy Murphy and Ann Cox.
The club held its AGM on Monday September 18th, and the club would like to wish new President Joan Hartery and her committee the very best for the coming year and thank outgoing President Elizabeth Mooney for all her hard work and commitment.
DIAMOND COUPLE.
Best wishes and congratulations to Tom and May McGrath, Ballygarron who recently celebrated 60 years of marriage. Tom and May are a very popular couple who always enjoy a chat with all they meet. Their love for each other is very evident to all as they enjoy their days together in their beautiful home and garden. They enjoy the company of their son Paul living next door and of course they adore visits from their grandson Jack. We wish this lovely couple every best wish for the future and many more happy years of marriage.
CHURCH NEWS
If you would like to book a weekend anniversary mass for your loved one during the coming months, please contact Linda Spillane on 087 9838392.
The parish choir have now returned from their summer break, and it is wonderful to hear them at our masses again. Rehearsals take place on Wednesday nights in the church and new members are always welcome.
The annual Sacristan’s collection will be taken up at all masses over the weekends of September 26th and 27th and September 30th and October 1st. There is an envelope in your yearly pack for this but don’t worry as any envelope will do, just mark it Sacristan’s collection. St. Nicholas’s Church in Ballyduff is very lucky to have a very hardworking and dedicated Sacristan. Ann Nolan is truly committed to ensuring things run like clockwork and our church is kept in immaculate condition. Any visitor to the church receives a warm and friendly welcome. Please be as generous as you possibly can to show Ann the appreciation she truly deserves.
RECENT DEATHS
We extend our deepest sympathies to the family of the late Mary O Callaghan, Hackettstown, Portlaw who died recently. Mary will be sadly missed by her mother Peggy, brothers Liam and Pat, sister Siobhan, extended family and her carers and friends in the Brothers of Charity Services.
We also send our condolences to the Davidson family, Gortaclode on the recent death of Moira. She will be fondly remembered by all and sadly missed by her husband Tom, her daughters Morag and Fiona, son Douglas, grandchildren, extended family, neighbours and friends.
We pray that they now rest in peace.
COMMUNITY MEETING
A recent meeting held in Ballyduff Community Centre was attended by many individuals and representatives from numerous groups in the parish. Our community is growing rapidly with many one-off houses as well as new housing estates. While everyone agreed that is wonderful to see so many people choosing our area to live in, they also agreed that amenities and facilities are needed to cater for all age groups. Attending the meeting were Richie Walsh from Waterford City and County Council and Jimmy Taafe from Waterford Leader Partnership and both gave valuable information to the meeting. They stressed the fact that to get your ideas and wishes across you need to form a strong dedicated development group who are positive and proactive. Advice and funding are available for groups who show how dedicated they are. The group would put forward the ideas and thoughts they have as to what is needed in the area to ensure that all are catered for. The next step is to form this group and so another meeting will take place in Ballyduff Community Centre on Thursday September 21st at 7.30pm. There will be a speaker attending who will direct how to move forward and set out a strategic plan. Community groups are driven by community members coming together for the good of their community. All are welcome to drop along to the meeting and find out what is involved.