NAMA Convention 2026 – Cleveland, Ohio
Another wonderful Convention wrapped up in Cleveland, Ohio at The Stone Church in the Public Square where the congregation of this beautiful church was kind enough to allow us to remember our late members in a touching reading of their names.
Remembrance played a big part in this convention. It was held in Cleveland because that’s where it all started. The Mona’s Relief Society was originally founded to help Manx people ‘fresh off the boat’ to secure work and a place to live. Over the years, the Manx population in Cleveland and the surrounding cities expanded across the country and the North American Manx Association was born in 1928. Brad Prendergast, who organized the convention, brought along a photograph of the hundreds of people who attended this first event, which included his mother as an eight-year old.
One of the early Manx settlers to have an impact on the city of Cleveland was John Gill, a builder who constructed many landmark buildings there, including The Cleveland Hotel where we stayed, as well as other famous buildings, including the Post Office in Washington, DC, now a Waldorf Astoria hotel.
For the Board, the convention kicked off with a meeting dominated by the need to find a succession path forward. The current Board is dwindling, and without an injection of fresh talent and enthusiasm, the future of the North American Manx Association is uncertain.
For the membership, things kicked off with a Manx Gaelic lesson from Lauren Collister, from Pittsburgh. Lauren recently received a Culture Vannin grant to teach Manx online to classes in North American time zones, and because she is still learning, she is a great teacher for beginners. We all managed to pick up a phrase or two!
Our next workshop came from Greater Washington DC Area Manx Society member, Brent Warner, who fascinated us with the history (and modern use!) of runes and oghams. These ancient alphabets came alive under his amusing explanations. Thank you to Board Member Bill Cassidy for organizing these workshops. Sadly, he was unable to attend the Convention due to a family emergency.
Brad Prendergast had a few challenges on this Convention, not least was the disappearance of the guide who had promised to take us on a tour of Terminal Tower, a building constructed by the Manx Gill family business, John Gill & Sons. Until 1964, the Terminal Tower was the tallest building in the United States outside of New York and the second tallest in the world. With Brad acting as our guide, we ascended to the Observation Deck and enjoyed delicious hors d’oeuvres as we looked out over Lake Erie and down on the city below on a beautiful, sun-filled evening.
On Saturday, we boarded a charabanc (points to Manxies who already know this is a tour bus!) and headed out for a day of Manx connections. First to the Clague Family Homestead, where we discovered that not all Clagues are nice, but their offspring can build a wonderful home for mom! This house is a treasure trove of antique furniture, clothes, toys, books, photographs, and artwork.
From here we headed to the Case Western Reserve University campus and their Maltz Performing Arts Center at The Temple-Tifereth Israel building. Again, this was constructed by John Gill & Sons. We received a fascinating presentation about the building and its history and then crossed the park to the Student Centre for lunch.
Our final visit of the day was to the now greatly restored home of Kermode Gill, one of John’s sons. The new owners have poured love and resources into rebuilding it to greatness, and we enjoyed free range of the house, the grounds and the pool area. We presented our hostess with a silver Three Legs of Man pendant as a token of our appreciation.
Our General Meeting was much more animated than usual as the Board presented its concerns over succession and the future of the Association. A gratifying number of members were swift to offer their support to the Board and some volunteered to assume Board positions. We all voted on the nominations, and the following slate was approved.
President: Brad Prendergast
1st Vice President: Bill Cassidy
2nd Vice President: Barbara Clucas Furshong
3rd Vice President: Dan Clague
Treasurer: John Prendergast
Secretary: Janene Felter
Genealogist: Lucy Peterson
Chaplin: Stephen Shaitberger
Bulletin Editor: Kelly McCarthy
Webmaster: Kelly McCarthy
Social Media: Kelly McCarthy
Trustees:
Matthew Kelly – Online Meetings, Fredericksburg, VA
Reed Kneale – Membership Outreach, Broadview Heights, OH
Martha Cole, Virginia Beach, VA
Margie Martinson, Chicago, IL
Bonnie Cannell Nothern, Newton, MA
Members came forward to offer help in many of these areas, and we anticipate a handover or sharing of many roles before the next Convention on the Isle of Man in 2028.
We were honored to host the 2023 Cleveland Medal winner, Debbie Gooding, who with her husband, Matt accompanied us on our trips and loved the experience of seeing so many Manx effects in this region. She kindly “sang for her supper” with beautiful renditions of classic Guild songs. (The Manx Music Festival is locally referred to as “The Guild”.) She also led the crowd in singing ‘Ellan Vannin” which was moving and meaningful to us all.
On Sunday, we stepped across Public Square for the service mentioned above before many of us paid a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
It was a successful Convention and yindyssagh to catch up with everyone. Heem’oo! See you in September 2028 on the Isle of Man.
