by Rosemary Shire, Mid West Region
At a recent virtual AGM of the Mid West Region Active Retirement counties of Clare, Limerick and Tipperary, the officers and committee members were returned for another challenging year.
The Mollie Hyland Perpetual Cup results were announced. This competition runs every year; write a poem or piece of prose of your choice. This is then judged by an independent expert and a winner is selected. This year’s winner is:
Kathleen Leahy, Abbeyfeale Active Retirement Association, with a piece called “Swallows.” Congratulations!
A little background history on the competition:
Mollie Hyland was our regional chairperson in the Mid-West Active Retirement Committee, and a member of Nenagh Active Retirement Association. Mollie was married to Kevin, and had two wonderful daughters – Rita and Síle. Mollie passed away suddenly, in office, in 2012.
The Regional Committee decided to run this competition in her memory. The Perpetual Cup and prize was presented to the winning contestant by Mollie’s husband, Kevin, at our Mid West Active Retirement Christmas Luncheon each year. Sadly, Kevin died earlier this year, but we are hopeful that Rita will continue to do the honours each year, and so have a Hyland involved in presenting the cup.
This competition is very important to us all in the Mid-West in Active Retirement, and it would be lovely to see it continuing. So, pen in hand, thoughts on paper – away you go.
Remember, it’s the taking part that’s important – winning comes second, and keeping Mollie’s memory alive is the objective. We have so much talent in this field, this competition stays alive and stimulated.
