A FREE THURSDAY PUBLICATION
THURSDAY MARCH 20, 2014
“May you have: A world of wishes at your command, God and Angels close at hand, Friends and family their love impart, And the Irish blessings in your heart.”
SOUTHBOSTONONLINE.COM
SBCA Awards Banquet #134
BY RICK WINTERSON
The South Boston Citizens’ Association (SBCA) Evacuation Day Banquet goes back a long way – to 1880, to be exact. Banquet #134 (2014) was celebrated at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center on Friday evening, March 14, the traditional time slot for the Awards Banquet in recent years. As many of you know, the SBCA is America’s oldest neighborhood civic organization. The Irish musical trio Curragh’s Fancy entertained during the cocktail hour beforehand. Rep. Nick Collins, as the General Chairman of the 2014 Evacua-
tion Day Committee, convened the event; City Councilor-atLarge Michael Flaherty took over as the evening’s emcee. Gubernatorial candidate Charlie Baker made a brief appearance. As usual, head table seemed to stretch all the way to infinity. Between 400 and 500 Banquet guests took their seats on the main floor. Parade Chief Marshal Brian Mahoney led the Pledge of Allegiance; the audience sang the National Anthem with Curragh’s Fancy; Fr. Joe White pronounced a blessing on the assembly, while reinforcing the dispensation for the consumption of corned beef on a Lenten Friday. Later in
the program, historian Bob Allison narrated a brief summary
dividuals who have made a difference in our city over the past
of the events leading up to the first Evacuation Day. These few solemn moments served to focus the Banquet on its main purpose: recognition of civic-minded in-
year. In addition to the Awards, much of the program was devoted to good-natured joking about the continued on pg 2
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