Fourth  Annual Lenten Diaper Drive

The Cecil County Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians completed our Fourth Annual Lenten Diaper Drive on the stormy afternoon of April 3, 2024. Huge thanks go to the Parishes of Good Shepherd, Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph Middletown for donating diapers and baby wipes! 9,617 diapers were collected and distributed to Cecil County and Heritage Pregnancy Centers.

Photo 1: Cecil County LAOH Members left to right: Karen Bower, Pat Widmayer, Christine Hild, JoAnne Bierly, and Anne Fazio Atira Nuzzo (in yellow) Heritage Pregnancy and Family Resource Center.

Photo 2: LAOH members delivering diapers left to right: Karen Bower, Liz Orr, Paula Luteran, JoAnne Bierly, Pat Widmayer, Anne Fazio, Mary Anne Loftus-Smith, Christine Hild.

Photo 3: Cecil Pregnancy Center’s share of the diapers.

Cecil County LAOH St. Patrick Breakfast

Delaware Field Trip

Cecil County Diaper Drive 2023

MD LAOH Cecil County collects over 600 packs of diapers for the Heritage Pregnancy and Family Health Center.

Cecil County Baby Shower

On May 5, Cecil County LAOH Division #1 held its baby shower at the Cecil Pregnancy Center in Elkton, Maryland. 13 members attended and donated hundreds of diapers, cases of baby wipes, and so much more. Some members crocheted beautiful blankets. Division Members were treated to a grand tour of the center and enjoyed refreshments, learned about the services provided, and the women who received these services. They have a newly certified ultrasound technician and a translator on hand. God is truly at work here. Our LAOH sister, Bette Green, is the founder of the center.

President’s Message

Cecil County Division 1 was installed in May of 2016 in Immaculate Conception Church, Elkton, MD. We currently have about twenty-four members from various parishes all over Cecil County Maryland and nearby in Delaware. Our Chaplain is Fr. Rich Jasper. The Ladies of the Cecil County Division One are an active and very friendly group where you will make friends for life! Some of our events include:

Annual Cecil County Pregnancy Center Baby Shower 

Annual Boscov’s “Friends Helping Friends” Fundraiser

Supporting local food banks and outreach centers with cash donations and food drives such as our Annual “Fill the Trunk” Food Drive

Providing greeting cards and toiletries to veterans and nursing care facilities

Monthly Irish Book Club 

Supporting events at the St Patrick’s Chapel in Cecil County, MD

Annual Masses for St. Brigid and Our Lady of Knock followed by a potluck or dinner at a restaurant

Social gatherings such as our Women’s Little Christmas and Christmas luncheon. In the past, we have done Paint with a Twist, gone to baseball games and attended a Christmas show. 

We recently organized a St. Patrick Celebration and teamed up with the Bishop Becker Council Knights of Columbus to serve the food. In turn, we provided desserts and served food at their Oktoberfest celebration. 

Many of our members are interested in participating in more Irish related cultural activities such as concerts, exhibits, festivals, ceili dances, parades and visiting sites of importance to Irish-Americans. 

We support the work of the Maryland LAOH Executive Board and its fundraisers, business meetings, and social activities. We have supported the Baltimore St. Patrick Parade and the Maryland Irish Festival.

To increase our membership, we have an information table after some Masses and at Christmas Bazaars at Good Shepherd Church and Immaculate Conception Church in Cecil County. We post announcements in church bulletins. We recently had a table at the Cecil County Genealogy Symposium and the Immaculate Conception Oktoberfest. We wear our green, orange and white sashes with pride and are happy to share our LAOH experiences with anyone who is interested.

Our meetings are held on the first Wednesday of the month from September to May at 1 p.m. in the Immaculate Conception Parish Center Library. We welcome new members and would even consider changing our meeting schedule to accommodate new members. Please let us know if that would make a difference in your interest to join.

Christine Hild, President

Division Officers

• President: Christine Hild
• Vice-President: Anne Fazio
• Secretary: JoAnne Bierly
• Financial Secretary: Sharon Bittner
• Treasurer: Maureen Pietschmann
• Irish Historian: Joan Dinsmore
• Catholic Action: Mary Anne Loftus-Smith
• Missions and Charities: Karen Bower
• Mistress At Arms: Pat Widmayer
• Sentinel: Rose Holley
• Chaplain: Ronald Zoubek, S.J