Honorees | East Durham Irish Festival

TICKETS LINEUP SCHEDULE INFO CONTACT FOLLOW

East Durham Irish Festival 2023 Honorees

Oliver & Anna Fallon

Oliver Fallon was born in 1942 in Tarmonbarry, County Roscommon, Ireland. In 1958 at age 15, Oliver’s parents, Peter and Gladys, relocated the family (including nine children) to New York City. They settled in St. Jerome’s Parish in the Bronx. A few years later Oliver graduated from Evander Childs High School. From there, Oliver worked for a travel agency before landing a job he would hold for 33 years with the New York Telephone Company. Throughout these years Oliver honed his carpentry and woodworking skills and lent those skills to many friends and family helping with projects in their home.

Now Oliver enjoys woodworking as quite a skilled hobby, in particular making beautiful Irish penal crosses in addition to other handmade items.
Anna Fallon (nee Murphy) was born in Dromtariffe, County Cork, Ireland. In 1961 Anna, one of 10 siblings, left her parents, Kitty and Nick, to come to America at the young age of 18. She first settled on 149th Street in the South Bronx. In 1962, Oliver met his Cork beauty Anna at Gaelic Park, where the Irish in the Bronx and beyond would gather to support the Irish sports games and dances. Oliver and Anna married in 1966 and resided on Walton Ave before moving to Astoria, Queens for 2 years and then finally settling in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx for 35 years. Together they raised 5 children: Kathy, Gerard, Denise, Danielle and Brian and now enjoy spending time with their 7 beautiful grandchildren.

From the late 60s through the 80s, the Fallons and their children spent their summers at The Pot of Gold Campgrounds in Acra, NY. In the early 1990s they purchased a home in East Durham moving here permanently in 2001. It was at that time that MJQ Board members Flan O’Malley (RIP) and Mary Ann O’Sullivan (RIP) encouraged Anna and Oliver to get involved with The Cultural Centre where they would later become Board Members.
A formidable team, Anna and Oliver spent endless hours fundraising and helping out wherever they were needed. Anna immersed herself with the annual MJQ $100 Raffle, always being the first one to get people to buy tickets. If you saw Anna coming you knew you had to purchase a ticket! One of the biggest fundraisers at the MJQ was the replacement of the huge hardwood dance floor in the main pavilion at the MJQ Irish Cultural & Sports Centre (which was then installed by Oliver and many volunteers). Anna of course outdid herself selling tickets that year!

Oliver and Anna were also extremely active with the Catskills Irish Arts Week volunteering their time and efforts, before and during the week, “anywhere and everywhere” they were needed! For many years they opened up their home to both students and teachers needing a place to stay during Arts Week and even chauffeured them back and forth to classes and gave bikes to others for transport around town! They are the epitome of true Irish hospitality and anyone who stayed with them said they were treated like family!

Oliver and Anna have both been honored as past Grand Marshals of the Greenville Irish St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Oliver proudly served as past president of the Greenville Irish American Club. Additionally, Oliver is a past Deputy Grand Knight and a current 4th degree Knight in the local Knights of Columbus and a proud and active member of the local American Legion. Anna belongs to the Greene County Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians and has served in the past as their financial secretary and is also an active member of the local Greene County Women’s Cancer Group and an ever fashionable member of the local Red Hat Society!

After years of a non-stop pace including many, many hours spent volunteering, Anna and Oliver retired from the Cultural Centre Board but still work behind the scenes whenever they can. If you know Anna and Oliver you love them! “One of the nicest couples you could ever meet” is a refrain you repeatedly hear whenever their names are mentioned. A warm smile, a lot of laughs and a wonderful chat can always be had with this energetic and upbeat couple. They are great “craic” as the Irish say and enjoy socializing and dancing with all of their friends and family in and around East Durham and beyond.

Please consider placing an ad in the 2nd Annual East Durham Irish Festival newspaper to congratulate Anna and Oliver on this honor. This special edition paper will be a lovely piece of memorabilia for Oliver, Anna and their families to enjoy and look back on for years to come showing them the love and support from the community for which they have given so much! East Durham is truly the “town they love so well”! Let’s take this wonderful opportunity to congratulate them and thank them for their service to our community by placing an ad in this year’s Festival newspaper!

Congratulate Oliver & Anna Fallon in the East Durham Irish Festival Newspaper

Feel free to call/text Kitty Kelly at 518-965-3641, or message us here for any questions or help on format and layout, including photos etc.

After choosing and paying for your choice of ad size, please email edirishfest@gmail.com with all the information, photos or artwork you would like to include in your congratulatory ad.

Tom & Linda Sutton

Tom Sutton was born in 1945 and grew up in Cornwallville, NY on Sutton Road. Tom’s father Eric was a farmer and along with his mother Alice, raised Tom and Tom’s four sisters. Tom attended Greenville High School while his sisters attended Cairo High School. During Tom’s time at Greenville High School, he met the lovely Linda McAneny, and a few years later in 1966 they were married.

Linda was born in Catskill, NY to Edna and Len McAneny from Jersey City (who have Irish roots in County Armagh, Ireland!).

In addition to all the work they have done for our community, Tom and Linda raised three beautiful daughters and now enjoy six grandchildren (3 boys and 3 girls), four great grandsons and one great granddaughter. One great grandchild was just born Sunday, April 2nd!

Tom’s desire to be in law enforcement led him to become a Constable for the Town of Durham in 1969. As tourism increased in the early 1970s and the local resorts were growing to the tune of 22 bar establishments in the area, the Town of Durham Police Department was established. Jerry Van Tassel was the first officer in charge until his passing in 1995. Sergeant Thomas Sutton has been the Officer in Charge since, and a Police Officer for the Town of Durham for nearly 55 years! To this day Tom and the Town of Durham Police Department look after the safety and well-being of the East Durham Irish Festival and its multitudes of festival goers every Memorial Day weekend. Tom Sutton is dedicated to serving and helping this community and can always be counted on at any hour to be there to help anyone in need. His calm demeanor and pleasant manner has made him a welcome presence here in our community!

In 1975, Linda Sutton became Dispatcher for The Town of Durham Police Department and began her lifetime commitment of community involvement.

In 1990, Linda joined the Durham Task Force, an organization founded by two well-loved and active members of the community, Jim Cullie (RIP), (who hailed from Scotland) and Neil Kellegher from the Shamrock House. The Task Force was dedicated to establishing community events and to that end they: organized the Patrick Kellegher Memorial Baseball Field, founded the July 4th Parade Committee and annual parade, instituted the Durham Reading Room (which included direction from the onset from Helen Hauswald, RIP, who was the moving force in keeping the reading room the asset it has become in town) and created “Christmas in Durham” (which takes place every December at the gazebo at the MJQ Irish Cultural & Sports Centre). Additionally, the Durham Task Force and its volunteers decorate the gazebo in East Durham for holidays, pick up trash along a two-mile span of Route 145 in East Durham and see that the flowers are organized and watered every season in Durham, East Durham, Oak Hill and Cornwallville, Linda has dedicated herself to carrying on the dreams and aspirations of Jim Cullie who sadly passed away 12 years ago. Additionally, Linda also organized the Durham Historic Preservation Commission with Barry Garfinkel in the early 1990s in a successful effort to avoid the development of a landfill in this community.

As many in our town know, Linda was a dedicated town board member who served for more than two decades! Somehow she also found the time to be a tax collector for a 2 year term! Linda Sutton can be always be counted on for an encouraging word whether in person or via a personal note. A big smile upon meeting, a kind word and genuine concern for how you are doing are hallmarks of Linda’s personality.

Tom and Linda continue to be extremely active in our community. They are a much loved couple who have given decades to our area without ever looking for anything in return. They love our community here in the Catskills and have truly helped make it the gem of the Catskills that it is. Both Linda and Tom put others before themselves and are the standard for any small town for how to be upstanding citizens and dedicated community members! May our future generations always honor them and follow in their footsteps!

Please consider taking an ad in the 2nd Annual East Durham Irish Festival newspaper in order to congratulate Tom & Linda on this honor. This special edition paper will be a lovely piece of memorabilia for Tom, Linda and their families to look back on and enjoy for years to come, showing them the love and support from the community for which they have given so much! Let’s take this wonderful opportunity to congratulate them and thank them for their service to our community by placing an ad in this year’s Festival newspaper!

Congratulate Tom & Linda in the East Durham Irish Festival Newspaper