The Blarney. March 2018 shamrockclublax.org The Newsletter of The Greater La Crosse Area Celtic Community

Transcription

1 The Blarney March 2018 shamrockclublax.org The Newsletter of The Greater La Crosse Area Celtic Community 2018 Irish Rose Mary Monks and 2018 Irishman Brady Hoeth during this year s St. Patrick s Day Parade in downtown La Crosse.

2 News From Around The Groups March, as always is a busy month for The La Crosse Area Shamrock Club, weeks of planning culminated in a hectic seven days which comprised of the St. Patrick s Day Dinner Dance, the St. Patrick s Day Bus Tour and finally the St. Patrick s Day parade itself. This year s dinner (An Evening in Ireland) was, possibly, the biggest ever with over one hundred people in attendance to witness the official crowning of the 2018 Irish Rose and Irish Man, Mary Monks and Brady Hoeth. The evening was presided over by Mr. Rick Pervisky who kept the night on track and the people amused with jokes and recollections from St. Patrick s Days of old. Dinner was catered by John and Lori Harrington and their staff from the Monarch Public House in Fountain City and the guests were entertained by Patina and The House of Jazz. Whiskey and wine tastings, as well as games, raffles and a silent auction rounded off a great night of entertainment.

3 The following Friday started off early for this year s Irish Rose as she made the rounds of local radio station s promoting the upcoming parade and bus tour, five radio stations in just over an hour and then it was off to meet up with the bus for the annual tour of schools and care facilities, along the way, time was made for a short TV interview at The Blessed Sacrament School.

4 In all, five care facilities and three schools were visited. At each location, those in attendance were entertained by Clancey O Coulee and our own trio of travelling musicians made up of Rick Pervisky, Tom Nolan and Lisa Marchel.

5 2016 Irish Rose Kathy O Driscoll and 2016 Irish Man Bill O Driscoll lead off the Shamrock Club marching section. More TV and radio interviews for the intrepid pair.

6 Members of the La Crosse Bantry Friendship Association line up prior to the start of this year s St. Patrick s Day Parade.

7 On March 24, the La Crosse Bantry Friendship Association presented its 3 rd Annual Coulee Hoolie Ceili. This year s event was very successful and raised $3,000 to be shared between two wonderful non-profit charities, Sacred Ground of La Crosse (which provides many services for the homeless and those less fortunate) and Cork ARC Cancer Support House in our sister city Bantry, Ireland (which provides support and services to cancer patients and their families). It was a wonderful evening of dance, music and camaraderie. From L to R, the musicians who entertained the crowd: Joe Dodson, Jeffry Worrell, Matt Shortridge, Megan Bradley, Cilla Skrade, Misha Nou, Kyle Humfeld and Lisa Marchel. On the left, some of the donated gifts set out for the silent auction and on the right dancers take part in a traditional Irish dance.

8 The board members of the La Crosse Bantry Friendship Association would like to send a big thank you to all who have donated silent auction gifts, monetary gifts and their time to make the 3 rd Annual Coulee Hoolie Ceili such a great success. At the last La Crosse Bantry Friendship Association meeting, elections were held to determine the make up of the board for the upcoming year, as of that date the board now consists of the following: Lynn West President Heather Dutcher Vice President Kriss Kuhn Past President Kathleen Ryan - Treasurer Kathy Spelker Secretary Art Marson Trustee Lori Peterson Trustee Kathleen Kludy Trustee Linda Pfaff Trustee St. Patrick s Day weekend culminated in the parade itself. A bright but cool morning brought out a great crowd to witness, what is quickly becoming a firm favorite on the parade calendar, over thirty groups, bands and floats made up the parade, which as usual made its way through downtown before ending outside the Main Street Library. A parade pre-party held at The Charmant Hotel and a post-parade party held at The Brickhouse made sure all those in attendance who felt so inclined could stay hydrated and well fed. Pre-parade warm up inside The Charmant Hotel, entertainment was provided by Amanda s Academy of Dance.

9 Coulee O Clancy leads off the 2018 St. Patrick s Day Parade Some of the many groups who took part in this year s parade.

10 Post-parade entertainment provided by Pig Town Fling on stage at The Brick House Here s looking forward to an entertaining and fun year ahead.

11 What s in a Name - Cummins The surname Cummins comes from the old Irish Gaelic name O Coimin, and has come to have many English variants. The Gaelic name also appears as O Comain especially in Munster. The surname Cummins was first found in Connact (Irish: Connachta, (land of the) descendants of Conn), where the family were erenaghs (Administrators) of the church of St. Cuimin Fada. It is said that in the 6 th century, St. Common, a pupil St. Finian was a missionary in Connact, founding a monastery in Roscommon. The parish of Kilcummin on the western side of the Bay of Killala is named after a family of the same name. Up-Coming Events April 18 Shamrock Club Meeting Shenanigans 6:00pm May 16 Shamrock Club Meeting Shenanigans 6:00pm (Election of Officers) May 28 Onanlaska Memorial Day Parade June 10 West Salem Butterfest Parade June 20 Shamrock Club Meeting Shenanigans 6:00pm July 13 Trempealeau Catfish Days Parade July 18 Shamrock Club Meeting Shenanigans 6:00pm August 10 Irishfest Opening Day August 15 Shamrock Club Meeting Shenanigans 6:00pm September 8 Steppin Out in Pink September 13 La Crescent Applefest Parade September 19 Shamrock Club Meeting Shenanigans 6:00pm September 27 Oktoberfest Torchlight Parade September 29 Oktoberfest Maple Leaf Parade

12 Birthdays April May Apr. 2 Steve Miceli May. 5 Barbara Smith Apr. 3 Don Walsh May. 6 Char Barton Apr. 6 Jim Kroner May. 7 Jerry Sheehan Apr. 11 Mike Diveley May. 12 John Harrington Apr. 11 Jeanne Pavela May. 12 Marlene Venner Apr. 11 Dennis O'Brien May. 17 Linda Pfaff Apr. 12 Bill O Driscoll May. 26 Dennis O Brien Apr. 15 Dorothy Miceli May. 26 Mary Monks Apr. 21 Jean Burgess Apr. 30 Linda Hoehn Apr. 30 Kelli Larson June: Jun. 2 Jun. 3 Jun. 5 Jun. 5 Jun. 7 Jun. 10 Jun. 11 Jun. 14 Jun. 19 Jun. 19 Jun. 23 Jun. 24 Jun. 26 Jun. 26 Luke Seielstad Mel Pollock Angela O Flaherty Willis Pollock Tom Burns Marian Schnell Sharon Candahl Kyle Humfeld Mike Burns John Boyle Dave Burgess Darci O Brein Lois Wakeen Audrey Kader irishroz_2000@yahoo.com

13 Announcements Welcome New Members The Board Members of the Greater La Crosse Area Shamrock Club would like to welcome the following new and returning members: John Eliason We would like to encourage you to attend our meetings, become involved and above all have fun. If you would like to celebrate an event with us please send an to Current Board Members President Patrick Mullaney - patrick.mullaney@xerox.com Past President Barrie Monks - monksb@yahoo.com Vice President Bill O Driscoll - billodriscoll@msn.com Secretary Char Barton - patandcharbarton@gmail.com Treasurer Liz Oelke - oelkegirl@hotmail.com Parlimentarian Luke Seielstad luke_seielstad@yahoo.com Sergeant At Arms Kathleen Ryan - ryantigo@msn.com Membership Chair Linda Pfaff - irishroz_2000@yahoo.com 3 Yr Trustee Kathy Petersen britkatscrap@gmail.com (2020) 2 Yr Trustee Kelly Smith yllek86@aol.com (2019) 2 Yr Trustee Brady Hoeth bradyhoeth@yahoo.com (2019) 1 Yr Trustee Mary Monks marymonks1968@yahoo.com (2018) 1 Yr Trustee - John Harrington - john@northpointsupply.com (2018)

14 A Blast From The Past While the above image is not part of our Shamrock Club history, it is a part of Irish history. This is a copy of a sweepstakes ticket which was issued prior to October The sweepstakes were established because there was a need for investment in hospitals and medical services in The Irish Free State and the public finances were unable to meet this expense at the time. A significant amount of the these funds were raised in the United Kingdom and United States, often among the emigrant Irish. Potentially winning tickets were drawn from rotating drums, usually by nurses in uniform. Each such ticket was then assigned to a horse expected to run in one of several horse races, including The Cesarewitch, The Derby and The Grand national. Tickets that drew the favorite horses thus stood a higher likelihood of winning and a series of winning horses had to be chosen on the accumulator system, allowing for enormous prizes. A couple of things to note about the ticket. The use of the name Irish Free State, The Irish Free State was established in 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December That treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between the forces of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic, the Irish Republican Army (IRA), and British Crown forces. The Oath of Allegiance to Great Britain was abolished by Eamon De Valera and in 1937 he drafted a new constitution, which was passed by a referendum in July of that year. The Free State came to an end with the coming into force of the new constitution on 29 December At the time this ticket was issued, The Irish Free State was still using the British Pound as currency although it was in the process of changing over to the Irish Pound (Punt) which bore the name Eire. As a side note, ten shillings in 1937 would be approx. sixty three pounds ($90.00) in today s money.

15 In an effort to keep The Blarney topical and entertaining, I would greatly appreciate some feedback as to what you, our members and readers, would like to see more of, less of or suggestions for new items in upcoming editions. Please your suggestions or comments to laxshamrockclub@outlook.com The Board of The Greater La Crosse Area Shamrock Club would encourage our members to frequent the establishments below, each of which has contributed in some way towards club activities. Thank You.