< Previous© December 2019 The Meath Coaster 10 Julianstown Youth Orchestra W ell done to the small group of players from the Julianstown Youth Orchestra who helped raise much needed funds for Temple St Hospital at Tesco's annual in-store charity event on Saturday October 26 th . Tesco customers were treated to a performance of music by Beethoven, Pachelbel, Offenbach and Henry Pur- cell with violins, cello and bassoons. A nice surprise for anyone doing their weekend shop! Now Enrolling The full junior orchestra will be per- forming at the Christmas Fair in the City North Hotel on Sunday after- noon Dec 15 th . Anyone who is inter- ested in taking up an orchestral in- strument should come along to listen and meet some of the players. Or join us at our festive, end of term 30 minute performance in Coláiste na hInse after re- hearsal at 10.15 Saturday Dec 14 th . We are always delighted to welcome new members to the junior orchestra age 6 – 13 years who have six months experience playing an instrument. The senior orches- tra is also interested in new members es- pecially those with an interest in the dou- ble bass or French horn, both of which we have available for loan to players! Contact us Mob: 086 0337515 Email: Julianstownyouthorchestra@gmail.com www.JYO.ie Facebook: julianstownyouthorchestraSonas agus síocháin na Nollag chugat, agus bliain nua faoi shéan agus faoi mhaise. Wishing you a peaceful and happy Christmas and prosperity in the New Year. Louth & East Meath T.D. Imelda MUNSTER Drogheda Constituency Office Open: Monday - Friday 9.30 - 5pm Tel: 041 987 3823 Email: imelda.munster@oireachtas.ie Clinics held in Laytown & Ardee : imelda.munster TD© December 2019 The Meath Coaster 12 Christmas Tree Festival Julianstown's first ever Christmas Tree Festival will be held in The Church of Ireland Church and Parish Rooms from Thursday 12 th Decem- ber to Sunday 15 th December. The opening times will be as follows: Thursday 5-8pm, Friday 10am - 8pm, Sat- urday 11am - 6pm, Sunday Noon -6pm. Refreshments included with entry which is €5 per adult and €3 per child with a family ticket of two adults and up to 3 children for €10. There will also be a craft and produce stall in the Parish Rooms. The proceeds will be for Parish Funds and for SOSAD Drogheda. We hope everyone will come and enjoy this wonderful event. Christmas at St. Mary's Church of Ireland, Julianstown Carol Service The Carol Service will be on Sunday 22 nd December at 4.00pm Christmas Day there will be Holy Communion at 9.15 and 10.30am. Everyone is very welcome. We are collecting items for Drogheda women's refuge during December, so please think of others as you prepare for Christmas. Bingo Night Bingo Night will take place in the City North Hotel on Wednesday, 4 th December from 8pm €5000 in Prize Fund. On behalf of Stamullen & Julianstown Parish Fund Raising Committee Hospice Coffee Mornings B ewleys, promoters of Ireland's Big- gest Coffee Morning,honoured peo- ple who have been hosting Coffee Morn- ings for many years. East Meath Hospice Association would like to add our thank to this year's nominees. On October 15 th Brendan Battersby, Whytes Restaurant in Stamullen and John Macken Limekiln Julianstown, received their awards at a breakfast in Bewleys Grafton Street,presented by Veronica Campbell of Bewleys. Pictured above, left to right are Veronica Campbell Mena Ball Jackie Macken John Macken,Brendan Battersby § Pantomime | The Pied Piper EM Productions E M Productions prepare to dazzle and delight on stage for the 6 th time with the hilariously entertaining Panto, The Pied Piper. In true panto style, the good the bad and the ugly will battle it out to see if once again good can conquer evil, which will have the audience booing, laughing and cheering along as the tale unfolds. Don’t miss out on this wonderful Christmas tra- dition! December 4 th to 8 th in the Droichead Arts Cente www.droichead.com §Byrne Cllr. James Wishing you and yours a Happy Christmas! General Election Candidate | Louth and East Meath 086 337 2965 James.byrne@louthcoco.ie © December 2019 The Meath Coaster 14 Reált Na Mara BNS Erasmus Visit E urope’s UNESCO heritage is the theme of Donacarney Boys’ School’s Erasmus project. The boys are working with four schools from Italy, Lithuania, the Czech Re- public and Poland over two years. Naturally, the children were the stars of the show with Erasmus clubs from each of the countries enjoying the chance to get to know one another and to visit classes throughout the school. There were hugs and tears at the end of a hectic week. Roll on the next trip to Lithuania! Erasmus trip to Millmount, Drogheda Stepping it out to Céílí music At the Giants’ Causeway, Co Antrim On the bus to Brú na Boinne A Warm Welcome for the ‘Cilles The wonderful Division One minor team from Colmcille’s received a rapturous wel- come from Donacarney Boys` School when they came to visit with the Delaney Cup. Several members of the team were past pupils of the school and, indeed, many of the assembled audience in the school hall are part of the Colmcille’s tribe. Team Captain Cian Flynn, along with Teachers and pupils from each of those countries came to Ireland to visit the school in October and to delve deep into activities and tours which investigated Ireland’s UNESCO heritage. They vis- ited Newgrange and the Giants Causeway which are both UNESCO sites. They also enjoyed a tour of Drogheda and the won- derful Millmount complex there. Activities included the creation of a huge map of UNESCO sites, a video of Brú na Boinne, a ceilí mór and music session in the school hall and joining in with Gaelic football, hurling and handball games.© December 2019 The Meath Coaster 15 player Tadhg Bennett are both former Donacarney boys and they spoke to the pupils and also answered their questions. They agreed that the final against the Summerhill team was a tough and tightly fought battle but emphasized the impor- tance of good training and healthy eating regimes to their success. and Greg Foxe, both proud Cilles men who played a vital role in Division One win. Well done all! Science Week Science Week in Donacarney Boys school was celebrated by lots of experiments in all classes throughout the school. The boys are keen scientists, and especially love Tadhg Bennett, Cian Flynn and John Weir –past pupils all! Division One Champions in Donacarney Boys School The team were accompanied by John Weir © December 2019 The Meath Coaster 16 testing chemical reactions with ordinary household items. Vinegar, bread soda, washing up liquid and eggs all come into their own for making new discoveries. Mixing Mentos with Diet Coke, for in- stance, causes a reaction with the carbon dioxide in the liquid which is fun to watch. But please try this experiment outdoors! Christmas in Donacarney Boys School Christmas preparations are well underway in Donacarney Boys School. The Great Bake Off starts in earnest in the next cou- ple of weeks with parents and staff already volunteering some wonderful home baked confections for the Cake Sale and Coffee Morning on December 3 rd . Meanwhile the boys are all busy preparing hampers for the ever popular Giant Hamper Raffle. The Coffee Morning runs from 10 am-12 noon and is a really popular way to meet others in our community. Meanwhile, everyone is looking forward to Donacarney Boys’ Christmas Concert on Thursday December 12 th . There are pi- rates, swimmers, singers, ukulele and tin whistle players busy rehearsing all around the school right now for what is sure to be a fun filled evening. It’s also a wonderful chance for the boys to show their dramat- ic, musical and artistic talents. And is sure to enchant the whole community with the very best of Christmas cheer. Donacarney Boys Christmas Concert is on Thursday December 12th Donacarney Boys School Cake Sale Tuesday December 3rd© December 2019 The Meath Coaster 18 Bettystown Tidy Towns, BTT B ettystown Tidy Towns, BTT, was formed just two years ago, when we launched BTT at the 2017 Christmas Lights event. As we write this article we are finalizing the 2019 Christmas Lights event and when this article is published, the event will be over and, we hope, it will have been a great night for everyone. A Craft Fair was held as part of the event with over 20 tables of products to browse through. We were delighted to welcome the Transition Year students from Colaiste na hInse, who were displaying some of their mini-company ideas. A raffle and food drive was also held at the craft fair with all food donations and raffle pro- ceeds being donated to the local branch of St. Vincent DePaul. Our thanks to all of the businesses who financially supported this community event, and to those who donated a raffle prize. 2019 was a busy and very successful year for BTT with Bettystown winning its very first National Tidy Towns award, winning two Municipal District Pride of Place awards and one County Pride of Place award. These are not only BTT awards they are the communities’ awards. We do, what we do, for the enhancement of the town for everyone’s benefit, residents and visitors, so we can all be proud of where we live. Our thanks to all of the busi- nesses in the town that have supported us, especially Marina and Denis Reddan of Reddan’s Bar who are very supportive © December 2019 The Meath Coaster 19 of our work and always willing to assist us. Some of the work we do, planting and painting, does require financial assistance and we are very thankful to Cllr. Sharon Tolan who is very supportive of our work with generous contributions from her Council’s Discretionary Fund. We are already making our plans for 2020 as we aim to build on our successes of 2019. Bettystown Village is your village and if you want to be involved in some aspect of its development, or you want to assist with organising an event, enhanc- ing a specific area or you just want to help out now and again, then, why not consider volunteering with BTT. You can contact us through our Facebook page or meet us in the village any Saturday morning between 10.00 and 11.00, when we are out and about in the village with our hi-vis jackets. Wishing you all the very best over the fes- tive season and best wishes for the New Year. This poem was written by a local resident and handed to one of the Tidy Towns vol- unteers and we thought we should share it with you. Bettystown Village Christmas time is here again It’s plain for us to see All the lights are shining bright Up on the Christmas Tree The Tidy Towns work so hard We see them every day. Picking up the rubbish that We all throw away The people that are on the beach Must learn to do what’s right Pick up the tins, fill up your bins When you go home at night. Keep dogs on a lead and always heed What wardens have to say. Then we know its safe to go And let the children play Now off you go and have a ball Happy Christmas to you all.Next >