Irishfest an beyond

Guess what!!   I am now a member of the Ancient Order of Leprechauns.  

For those of you at Irish Fest who did not get this opportunity, you had to go by the lake shore to the children's area at the Leprechaun Village.    I asked if I could join and they were glad to welcome me.   I am so glad that there is no age limit.   I had to retrace to get some stamps on the passport they gave me.    In that adventure, I was given two stickers, a pirate hat and a pencil.    How lucky is that.

Rosemary Mugan, Joan Brigham and I got to the Irish fest grounds in plenty of time to work our way into the Amphitheater for the mass.   The Mass was truly lovely.    Bishop David Malloy from the Rockford Diocese in Illinois was the celebrant.   As always, there was a lot of pomp and music.   If you have never attended one of the masses, I would recommend it.   My non Catholic son was impressed years ago because it is so beautiful.  (He did think perhaps it could have been a bit shorter.  )   

After Mass we ate, enjoyed the shows, and shopped until four when we joined Gail Mc Aleese to march as Celtic Women in the parade.  I had the banner and the four of us marched proudly for all of us.   It poured during the parade but brave as we are, we kept on going.   I hope that things work out better for all next year.   So many people had other plans and then the rain drove a couple of people home.  But we were proud and we did get lots of people cheering us on.  I handed out a couple of cards.    Maybe they will contact us.

So It was a great day.

Now on to the future.

I will list the scheduled events through the end of the year.  We have nothing scheduled for September.   This will give you all time to read the Legend of the Celtic Stone by Michael Phillipps for the book discussion.  

1.  The weekend of October 12 -14 is the third annual IBAM (Irish Book Art Music) event at the Irish American Heritage Center in Chicago.    A number of the members of the Sheboygan Branch are planning on attending.   We will, I hope, as we did last year.  car pool to to Chicago.   The hotel we stay at provides shuttle service to the Irish Center.  We will check bus, limo and Amtrak too.    Anyway, if you log onto   ibamchicago.com  you can see the preliminary agendas.      Maureen Smith and the Chicago branch are again hosting the Literary Corner.    I will be giving a talk on how I visualize and construct my wall hangings.

Let me know if you are interested in going.   The more the merrier. 

2.   Samhain -Sunday, October 28, is our annual harvest dinner to celebrate the beginning of the Celtic year as we enter into the dark season.   It will again be at the UCC in Plymouth on Hwy 67.  Bring your friends, significant others and be sure to open your arms and extend an invitation to those you love that have entered into the afterlife.  I plan on bringing colcannon to that even.

3.  Saturday, November 3, Joan Kramer will host the Book Discussion Group.   It will be in the afternoon.   Time to follow.

4.  Saturday, December 8.   The Annual Celtic Christmas Tea at the Plymouth History Museum.    The Sheboygan County Historical Research Center will again provide the entertainment and advertizing.   We need to be there with good Christmas and Irish Goodies.   I will be bringing my brown bread.

So that will be the year 2012.   We have had a very successful year.   I am proud of us.    From baking pasties to hosting the Annual Meeting of CWI International,   it has been fun.     Lets keep it up and grow in our Celtic heritage and spirit as the next year comes in to being.

Slainte.

Mary
920-893-5139

Less than two weeks left until the Milwaukee Irish Fest.   I can hardly wait for a whole day of Irish fun away from home.  I will be going on Sunday, August 19.

At this point, Rosemary Mugan and Felicia Riendl are riding with me.   I haven't told Dick, but I am going to drive down.   I would like the practice with the van and this will be a good way to test the freeway handling of it.  I may have room for one more, if Joan Brigham does not come along.

I plan on leaving here at 8AM.   Mass at the Fest starts at 9:30AM.  We will all have to bring a can or box of food for the food drive if going to the Mass.  This will give us free entry into the Festival grounds after Mass is over.

I will be  leaving the grounds between   8:00PM and 8:30PM.   So we should be back home by 9:30PM. 

Celtic Women will be marching in the Irish Fest Parade.  I will bring the banner.   I will let you know time and gathering place.  This is always fun.  Gail's husband is St. Patrick and what a spectacular St. Patrick he is.

So let me know YOUR plans.   Lets keep Celtic alive in our world.

(I have decided to forget the Highland games.  Nobody has responded and Labor Day weekend is a difficult one to get away on anyway.   Also, I found out that my friend, Mike, and his Scottish Reenactors, the Tribe of the Blue Rose, are not performing there this year. )

In October  many of us will be going to IBAM in Chicago.  Here an excerpt from the IBAM website which is http://ibamchicago.com/:

iBAM! Chicago 2012!

iBAM! 2012: October 12, 13 & 14

"A Journey towards Understanding through the Arts"

Honoring Derry, City of Culture 2013

iBAM! is a gathering of the best Irish authors, artists and musicians from around the world, under one roof, for a weekend Irish cultural celebration.

We will celebrate Samhain again, with a lovely dinner of Harvest Foods, on Sunday October 28,   as we make our way into the Dark Season of the year.     Think of your very favorite Samhain foods.   Decide whom you are going to invite, both the living and those who have gone before.   We will be meeting at UCC on Hwy 67 in Plymouth.    I will enclose the time and more information in our next newsletter.

Saturday, November 3rd will be the Book Discussion Group.    We do know that it is very close to Samhain, BUT this is the date that our hostess, Joan Kramer has available for us.    The time  for this will follow also.   We are reading and will be discussing The Legend of the Celtic Stone by Michael Phillips.    It is interesting to read about our Scottish history.   I will be bringing a song  about one of the stories in the book called Glencoe.  

Finally, the last event for this year is our annual Irish Christmas Tea.   We celebrate this along with the Plymouth Historical Society and the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center.   The event will be held on December 8, 2012, (with a snow date of 12/15/12) at the Plymouth Historical Museum at 420 E. Mill Street, Plymouth WI.  from 2:00PM to 4:PM.   We, the Celtic Women provide the tea treats.  Bring your best breads, Christmas Cookies and  Scones to celebrate the event.    There are rumors that we may have Jeff Ward from Milwaukee to provide our entertainment.   He is marvelous.   I will ask him to sing El Eldorado.   or maybe Steal Away.   Hope we get him.

So that is is for the year.    Are you all out there?   Are we doing the things you want to do to do?   I am stretching a bit, but know that Beth Dippel from the Research center would be glad to help us search out our histories,   I have been experimenting with recipes for years and would be glad to share this or our music history.   Just let me know what you want to know about our past and we will see what we can do.  Perhaps you are even a source of wonderful information for the rest of us.

Dia Dhuit

Mary Kunert