Showtime at Costa Mesa for LAPES

Fellow Emeralds,

The Costa Mesa Highland Games is this weekend 5/24 and 5/25...Our Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drums will be there playing for the crowds representing us proudly. As importantly, our stalwart Emerald Society Volunteer Beer Brigade will be there supporting this historic Scottish/Celtic/Irish event and serving up brews for the benefit of our Society.

The call time for the volunteers on both days is 0830 Hrs...8:30 AM for training at the Costa Mesa Fairgrounds.

VP JJ Leonard is working with Emerald Brother Ron Cody to make this Emerald Society Booth a go. I hope that all of you will be able to attend this event with family and friends for a fun time! If you have any questions please call JJ at 818 992-1414. Thanks again to JJ,Ron Cody and all the volunteers! All the Best to All of You!

Steve Saletros
President

Remember National Police Memorial Day

Brother and Sister Emeralds,

Reporting form Washngton, D.C., your Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipe and Drum Band participated in the National Emerald Societies Pipes and Drums March and National Police Memorial Ceremony in a way that makes us all proud. I want to thank all our members that participated in this most meaningful event and I want them to know that their efforts and sacrifices they made to be present in Washington, DC during National Police Week is noticed and appreciated in so many ways by so many people. For those of you who could not be with us this year , we know that you are with us in spirit and we carry your spirit with us, for when one Emerald is present we are ALL present.

I ask that today,on May 15th, National Police Officers Memorial Day, we all reflect on the sacrifices that our brother and sister officers and their families make on a daily basis. I ask that we observe, respect and honor the ultimate sacrifices that our fallen brothers and sisters have made and that we remember them and their survivors in our prayers, words, deeds and actions, not only today, but always. Never Forget the Fallen and Always Remember the Survivors!

Stephen Saletros
President
Los Angeles Police Emerald Society

Call for Volunteers

Thanks to the efforts of fellow Emerald Brother Ron Cody and with the concurrence of Pipe Major Scott Walton and the entire Emerald Society Board, the Los Angeles Police Emerald Society will be at the Scottish Festival at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa on May 24th and 25th.

Our Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipe and Drum Band will be at the Festival to participate and play. There will be many Pipe and Drum Bands there at the festival but it is historic that we , as an Irish and Police Band, will be there! This is part of the cross promotion within the Celtic community that we hope will strengthen all the participating parties ,showing a united Celtic front and cultural community.

In addition to having our Pipe and Drum Band play at the festival, we have arranged to have a beer booth at the festival. Our Emerald Society will receive a portion of the sales that we earn at the beer booth. We need volunteers to commit to tending the beer booth. I expect that this will be a really fun assignment at a really fun place filled with fun people and events....and the funds we earn at this event can be used for the many worthwhile causes we are involved in whether it be scholarship, National Police Memorial, preservation of our culture, or the other myriad of good and cultural works we are involved in all year long.

So we need volunteers! The Band will be busy playing and attracting the crowd...what we need are beer servers to sell to the thirsty crowd ! The fact that we are an Irish police group should make us unique and we will appeal to the family crowd for support on those points., and any others you can think of.

For those who volunteer at the booth, free training will be provided by California State Alcohol and Beverage Control (ABC) at the Orange County Fair Grounds on May 3rd. We can also have an ABC agent come to us to provide training at the Academy 1 hour prior to our next meeting on May 7...At the completion of the training you will receive a certificate which will allow you to serve alcohol, good for 3 years...so this might benefit you or other organizations that you might serve. Its a win win win situation so please consider volunteering, bring a friend, and get ready to do a good thing while having a good time...Please contact me vial email or phone to sign up for a volunteer list. More details to follow! Thanks and all the best to my Emerald Brothers and Sisters!

Slainte,
Stephen Saletros

What a Month!

Fellow Emeralds,

WOW , what a month March has been! I want to thank all of you who showed our true IRISH SPIRIT throughout the month of March in celebration of St. Patrick's Day and our heritage.

Whether it was at our annual St. Patrick's Day Party, the Hermosa Beach St. Patrick's Day Parade and Block Party, or the Los Angeles St. Patrick's Day Parade and post parade gatherings at McCormick and Schmick's and Tam O' Shanter, we had a fantastic showing of our members, family and friends in unprecedented numbers and spirit!!!

Special thanks to Pipe Major Scott Walton and our Emerald Society Pipes and Drums that played outstandingly at every venue! I heard many compliments both as to the increasing size of our Band(eleven pipers) and the wonderful sound! Our Pipes and Drums led the way and their efforts are much appreciated!

I'd like to thank the following for showing outstanding support for the Los Angeles Police Emerald Society in our celebrations of St Patrick's Day and our Irish heritage:

Tom LaBonge, City Council District 4 Councilman and office, especially Young-Gi Kim.

Ed Reyes, City Council District 1 Councilman and office, especially Sophia.

Spring Street Barbeque (Dan Patterson)McCormick and Schmick's (Elaine Doran)

Casey's Irish Restaurant

Tam O' Shanter (Phil Bowater,Wayne Wood, and Melissa)

Roland Communications ( Annet Peairs)

Irish Import Shop (Ann Colburn)* Members receive a 10% discount with Emerald Society card.

Congratulations to two of our members who retired this month after very long and distinguished careers in the LAPD..our very own Gary Brennan and JJ Leonard!Our Pipes and Drums showed up in force at both retirements and it was an honor to be there and play for two of our finest members!!

APRIL UPDATE

Our special guest speaker for the April meeting (April 2nd) is confirmed. The harp is the national symbol of Ireland and a beautiful instrument it is. Our guest, Slyvia Woods, is a renowned harpist, teacher, composer and arranger from California who has gained an international reputation as one of the foremost folk harp players in the world. In 1980 she won the prestigious All-Ireland Harp Championship in Buncrana, County Donegal, Ireland. Today she runs the Sylvia Woods Harp Center (a harp retail store, mail order catalog, and website) as well as a publishing company and a recording label.

Sylvia began studying the pedal harp while attending the University of Redlands in Southern California. After graduation, she became interested in folk harps such as the Irish and Welsh harps, and traveled on her own to France (Brittany) and Ireland to research the folk harp scenes in those countries. She now concentrates on the folk harp, and has been a major leader in the world-wide renaissance of this beautiful instrument.

For more info check the website www.harpcenter.com .

We look forward to seeing the presentation and performance of the harp, the national symbol of Ireland, by Sylvia Woods at our April meeting.

That's all for now Emeralds and I look forward to seeing you at the next meeting.

Stephen Saletros, President, Los Angeles Police Emerald Society.

PS Does anyone have a copy of the book Harpo Speaks?

St. Patrick's Day Party and Parades

We had a GREAT time at our annual St. Patrick's Day Party at Maggies Restaurant with record attendance this year. This is certainly the best St. Patrick's Day Party in Southern California and I'd like to thank all who attended for making it such a wonderful time. I would especially like to thank our members who volunteered at the front table...including VP JJ Leonard and his wife Julianne, Jan Lewinson, Pat Devine, Diane McCarthy, Jenn Macnamara, George and Barbara Maycott, Elizabeth Donovan and Sgt at Arms Gil Sawyer! And thanks to Gil Sawyer who handcrafted a beautiful dirk with the Emerald Society challenge coin in the handle. The dirk was raffled off and over 600.00 was raised for the Society as a result! Thanks again Gil! I also want to thank Lisa Golden and Kim Braden for their handling and sales of the wares..much appreciated! And, of course, thankyou to the Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipe and Drum Band under Pipe Major Scott Walton for an outstanding performance, Sligo Rags for the excellent music, and the Irish stepdancers who kicked up a storm!

Now for the upcoming events: March 15 ( Saturday) HERMOSA BEACH PARADE...Plan on being in the staging area (Pier Avenue/Valley Drive, Thomas Guide Page 762,H2) around 10:00 AM becuase the parade starts promptly at 11:00 AM. There is NO REMOTE PARKING THIS YEAR at Mira Costa High School with shuttles so you might want to get down to the staging area early and find street parking, perhaps 9:00, and then have breakfast in the area. The uniform for those marching will be: your department"s Class "A" uniform, or dark green Soicety polo shirt, black pants(or Society's kilt) and black shoes. This is a fun parade with many thousands of people lining the streets and cheering as the Society comes into sight. It is also a family-type parade, and family members are encouraged to march. We will finish the parade with a block party at Bill Hallet's house, a short walk from where the parade ends. There will be food and drink and Pipes and Drums and a great time will be had by all!

March 17(Monday) Downtown St Patrick's Day Parade .... Members will meet at the Los Angeles Police Academy at Elysian Park at 10:00 AM...A shuttle bus , graciously provided by LA City Council District 1, will shuttle members to the beginning point of the parade which is at Olvera Street. The parade will begin at 11:30AM and we will march to Pershing Square( 5th Street bordered by Olive St and Hill St. across from the Biltmore Hotel). At the end of the parade, there is a free concert at Pershing Square featuring the popular music group the "Young Dubliners".

When the parade concludes, we will march into Pershing Square and play for a brief time. After that our Society will march over to the restaurant McCormick and Schmicks about a block and a half away where lunch and a surprise gift will be provided for all our members. This part of our day is flexible but the band will be playing at McCormick and Schmicks sometime during lunchtime and then we will be picked up at Pershing Square by our bus. Upon return to the Academy, members are invited to go to Tam O'Shanters restaurant (Los Feliz) where the Band will play and a meal will be provided for all our members who attend thanks to the efforts of Phil Bowater.

Last year we had a wonderful level of participation and a fantastic time and I am hoping that this year will be the same! This is the time to proudly march and proclaim our heritage to the world!So come on down and march! March for our heritage! March for our ancestors! March for St. Patrick! GO IRISH!!!

If you have any questions, issues or concerns do not hesitate to contact me and I hope to see you at the parades!

Steve Saletros
President

President's Message

Greetings Fellow Emeralds!I hope that this message finds you all well and as excited as I am about celebrating our heritage during the month of March. We have many events planned for the celebration of St Patrick's Day and hopefully you have learned of them through our newsletter ,"The Garda",and our meetings.

Our March meeting on 3/5 Wednesday, will feature our special guest speaker, Finbar Hill, Hon. Consul of Ireland and Chief of Protocol of the Los Angeles Consular Corps. It is our honor and an emerging tradition to have Finbar Hill speak at our March meeting as he did last year. Finbar speaks of the current situation in Ireland with great knowledge and eloquence , and last year entertained a lively question and answer session. We welcome him and you to hear his presentation!

Many of you saw the news coverage of the funeral of the first LAPD Swat officer to be killed in the line of duty, Officer Randal Simmons. The entire Emerald Society extends its condolences to the family and friends of Randy Simmons and flowers and a card were sent to express our sympathy.

At the request of the Simmons family our Los Angeles Police Emerald Society Pipes and Drum Band, under the leadership of Pipe Major/LAPD Detective Scott Walton, performed "Amazing Grace" at the cemetery during the burial of Officer Simmons. It was an honor to be allowed to participate in the services for Officer Simmons and our Emerald Society Pipe and Drum Band did us proud. Selected video of the extensive news coverage will be shown at our 3/5 meeting.

Our annual St Patrick's Day Party at Maggies restaurant in Santa Fe Springs, featuring bagpipers, Irish dancers, the band Sligo Rags, door prizes and all the corned beef and cabbage you can eat for 25.00 is this Saturday 3/8. Ticket sales are at a record level but we can still squeeze you in, so contact the LAPES office at 213 747-4743 for last minute ticket purchases. Tickets are not sold at the door.

Volunteers...Volunteers are still need to work the door at Maggies so thank you to those who have stepped up to volunteer and if you haven't , please consider it!

That's all for now! I look forward to seeing you at the meeting, party and upcoming events! There will be more details and HOT NEWS to follow!

LET'S GO IRISH! ERIN GO BRAGH! GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Steve Saletros
President

An Irish Kid with a Jewish Name

By Tuvia Bolton
(portait "The Rebbe" by Sarah Kranz)

I heard this story from the Lubavitcher Rebbe's secretary, Rabbi Laibel Groner.

A woman from the Chabad-Lubavitch Community in Brooklyn was pulled over by a N.Y.C. traffic cop for some traffic violation. Standing outside her open car window and watching her search for her license and registration papers, the police officer caught sight of a picture of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in her open purse.

"Excuse me, maam," he asked, "are you one of the followers of this Rabbi?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Well, in that case I'm not giving you a ticket." He closed his ticket book and continued, "Do you know why? Because this Rabbi," he pointed to the picture she was now holding in her hand, "Did a very big miracle for me."

"Well," said the grateful woman, "since you aren't giving me the ticket, I have time to hear the story."

The policeman smiled and said, "It's my favorite story, but I haven't told it to many Jewish people, in fact I think that you are the first." The cars were whizzing by behind him and he had to raise his voice slightly. "The story goes like this: I used to be in the police escort that once a week escorted the Rabbi to the Montefiore Cemetery (where the Rebbe's father-in-law and predecessor, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, is interred). I got to know some of the young men who accompanied the Rebbe, and I learned a lot of things. They are very friendly people, which you probably already know, and we talked a lot while the Rabbi was inside praying.

"Well, one day I saw that all the fellows there were really talking excitedly to each other so I asked them what happened. So they told me that the Rabbi does a lot of miracles for people, but today he did a miracle that was really something. I didn't even ask what was the miracle that they were talking about, I just asked them if the Rabbi helps non-Jews also.

"'Sure,' they said, 'The Rebbe helps anyone who asks. Why? Do you need something?' So I told him, this young fellow, that me and my wife had been married nine years with no children, and a week ago the doctors told us that we had no chance. We had spent a lot of money on treatments, seen all sorts of big professors, we were running around like crazy for the last six or seven years, and now they told us that they tried everything and there is no chance. You can't imagine how broken we were. My wife cried all the time and I started crying myself.

"So this young man tells me, 'Listen, the next time that you escort the Rebbe to the cemetery stand near the door of his car and when he gets out ask him for a blessing.' So that is just what I did. The next time I was in the escort I stood by his door and when he got out I said to him:

'Excuse me, Rabbi, do you only bless Jewish people or non-Jews too?'

"So the Rabbi looked at me like a good friend, it was really amazing, and said that he tries to help anyone he can. So I told him what the doctors said, and he said I should write down on a piece of paper my name and my father's name together with my wife's and her father's names and that he would pray for us. So I did it, my hands were shaking so much I almost couldn't write, but I did it and you know what? My wife became pregnant and nine months later she gave birth to a baby boy! The doctors went crazy, they couldn't figure it out, and when I told them that it was all the Rabbi's blessing they just scratched their heads and -- Wow! I felt like the champion of the world!

"But here comes the good part. Do you know what we called him? What name we gave our baby boy? Just guess! We called him Mendel after the Rabbi. At first my wife didn't like the name because its not an American name, but I said, No! We're calling him Mendel! Each time we say his name we'll remember that if it weren't for the Rabbi this boy would not be here.

"But when our parents heard the name they really objected. They said, 'With a name like that, all the kids will think he's a Jew or something and they will call him names and be cruel to him. Why make the kid suffer for no reason?' 'That's just what I want,' I said to them. 'When he comes home and says that the other kids called him names and beat him up because he has a Jewish name, I'll tell him that I want him to learn from those other kids how not to behave. They hate the Jews for no reason, but you should love the Jews, you should help the Jews. You just tell them that without that Jewish Rabbi called Mendel you wouldn't be here at all, and then maybe they'll start thinking differently too!'