May 23, 1013

This is just an note to tell all of you of all the wonderful Celtic events that are taking place in our area just in the next month. It is good to spread the word about these things.   Some events just fit into our busy schedules.

First:  Oshkosh Irish Fest.   Though originally advertized for the weekend of June 11, has been changed to the weekend of May 30 through June 2.    It will be held at the Leach Amphitheater in Riverside Park, downtown Oshkosh, along the Fox River.   The email site is www.oshkoshirishfest.com.  Looks like a nice schedule and a well done fest.

Second:  The Milwaukee Highland Games on June 1 from 9AM to 10PM at Hart Park, Wauwatosa.  I am planning on attending this one (not all day though as the morning seems to be mainly registering and entering various contests) if anyone would like to ride with me, let me know.    A group of reenactors called the Tribe of the Blue Rose will be performing.   One of them is a friend of mine.   The site to check them out is www.milwaukeescottishfest.com

Third:   Be sure to mark down June 16th, Bloomsday.  This will be Celtic Women International, Sheboygan Branch's third Bloomsday.    I find it exciting that as we celebrate,  we join James Joyce  fans all over the world.   This event started in 1954  on the 50th anniversary of the events of the novel, Ulysses, in Dublin. Intended to be a pilgrimage of the events in the novel,  the "pilgrims" made it halfway through when the celebrants, "succumbed to inebriation and rancour at the Bailey pub in the city centre." But the event has been celebrated each year since then.   It involves readings from Ulysses, pub crawls and dramatizations from the novel.  Celebrations are held all over the world now.    Here in Plymouth, we go to one pub and will as in other years discuss the novel and Joyce a bit and read a few scenes from Ulysses.   We will also share a bit of burgundy and Gorgonzola cheese.    Plan to get to 52 Stafford at 52 Stafford Street in Plymouth at about 5:30PM for a cocktail, with dinner at about 6PM.   After dinner we will do our Joyce tribute.   All are welcome, bring friends, significant others or people you meet on the way.

Until next time.

Dia Dhuit

Mary Kunert
920-893-5139

Update and review of Sheboygan CWI events 5/2013

May 16, 2015

An update for all the Celtic Ladies and Gentlemen, members and friends of Celtic Women International, the Sheboygan Branch.

Kind of a long formal title, but I am feeling kind of formal today.

The past week had been very full and so much fun starting with our biannual Literary Exchange.

We spent the May 11^th meeting discussing Patricia Monaghan and several of her books. Patricia,who passed away last year, was one of Celtic Women International's staunchest supporters. I had the privilege of hearing her speak a couple of times and found her so much fun and full of knowledge. She was the (pronounced THEE) expert on knowledge of the female goddess history in world culture and in all of us.

As she was also an exceptional poet, we read some of her poems. We also listened to two songs from Jamie O'Reilly, CD, Songs of a Kerry Madwoman, which was a joint venture by Patricia and Jamie. I have that CD and NOW I understand it.

The next Literary Exchange will be in November. Date, Time and Place to be announced when our leader Joan Kramer has her schedule. We are very important to Joan but she is such a busy lady.

We have decided to read NORAH: The Making of an Irish-American Woman in 19th-Century New York City by Cynthia G. Neale. Joan says it is really good and will be an interesting story.

Last night, Nancy Roehre, Joan Kramer and I went to UW Sheboygan for their Speakers' Series lecture. The speaker was Dr. Valerie Murrenus Pilmaier. The title of her talk is “No Longer at the Kids' Table: Irish Chick Lit and the Position of Women in Irish Society.”

Chick Lit, with its roots in domestic fiction, speaks to issues central in women’s lives such as relationships and emotional and financial security, but it does so in a humorous, and often candid, manner. A quote from the description of the lecture on the UW site.

We were fascinated. Literature vs entertainment is the theme. Women writers were for years always considered entertainment. Many still are and we all know of women authors who wrote under male pseudo-names to get their books out there. Literature is always a snapshot of the time it is produced. Our recently deceased Maeve Binchy was a master of Chick Lit.

Valerie is interested in CWI ( Hi Valerie) and said she would be delighted to talk to us about this subject.

Now for the next meeting. We are going to celebrate BLOOMSDAY again. Bloomsday celebrated on June 16 and is a commemoration and celebration of the life of Irish writer James Joyce during which the events of his novel Ulysses (which is set on 16 June 1904) are relived. It is observed annually on 16 June all over the world. The name comes from Leopold Bloom, the Ulyssean protagonist.

We will be meeting at 52 Stafford at about 5:30PM, Sunday June 16. We can have a cocktail and mingle then eat about 6PM. After dinner, we will have a short meeting. Then I hope to have a friend of mine who is an expert on the subject tell us about the novel.

So we go on. What do you think about creating Bridget Beads in July? We got the directions and prayers at the Chicago Branch's Brigid Day last January and would be delighted to share. If this sounds interesting we could combine it with tea and scones for a ladies afternoon.

Let me know if you have any interest. We would need to order St. Brigid medals and gather the other beads and such for the project.

That's it. Really.

Dia Dhuit

Mary Kunert

920-893-5139

920-912-5345

May 1, 2013

Hello, all you Celtic Ladies.

Time for a summary of the Annual Meeting and Gathering and an update of the events that we have scheduled for the rest of the year.

Don't forget. The semi annual meeting of our Literary Exchange is May 11, Saturday, from 1PM to 3PM at the 1^st Congregational Church, 1405 S. Hwy 67, Plymouth WI. Thank Dorothy Rose for again being able to provide the meeting place. We are discussing books written by Patricia Monaghan. Patricia, in case you do not know, was one of our Celtic Women International members and a BIG supporter. She passed away last year. I do have several of her books if you haven't read any of her work and would like to.

The Annual Meeting and Gathering of Celtic Women International was last weekend, April 26-29 in St. Charles IL. At the Hotel Baker. I am so sorry that more of you could not attend because it was so exciting.

We checked in all day Friday and joined for our first meal at Mc Nally's Pub across the street from the hotel for our evening dinner following a reception at the hotel where we were given an “assignment” to learn more about our fellow attendees. I was paired with Gail, who I have known “forever” and someone new to me, Lorraine, who is simply fascinating and I hope we see more of her.

The next day we held the annual meeting. Congratulate Debbie O'Grady and Janet Bieschke fore renewing their positions as the current President and VP. The whole new board will be in the next newsletter.

Following the meeting, we had two speakers. The morning speaker was our own Maureen Smith whose presentation was called Accessing Works of History, Literature and Arts Online. Even those who might not use computers would be amazed at what is out there, free for the reading. She had provided us with websites that are invaluable, giving us the first steps to so many sites that she had to do all the research for.

The afternoon speaker was a farmer from Illinois, Bill Scheffler (wish you could have been there,Rosemary M.) who spoke of the energy around us. His talk was entitled Irish Round Towers and Today's Gardener. He has studied the round towers in Ireland though he has never really seen one in literature. I can provide his sources. The round towers were built to harness the energy from the air and funnel it into the ground which with proper planting provides stimulus to the plants. Crops on the correct side of the towers grow better than those on the opposite sides.

We saw a Tony winning play, The Seafarer, on Saturday night and then the next day after a scattering ceremony summarizing our endeavors and pooling our energies for the trip home, we headed to our homes.

You simply must come next year, we are planning on going to Madison WI.

After the Literary Exchange, the following events are scheduled.

June 16^th is Bloomsday. We will again celebrate ON THE 16TH, at 52 Stafford. We are already listed in the Sheboygan County's Living Here. Details will follow.

July - Either dinner some Wednesday at the Stafford or as some people are out of pasties, maybe a baking session. I am willing to provide the ovens.

August has lots of opportunities for us to be with each other.

1. Beth Dipple of the Sheboygan County Research Center is planning a Gathering of the Clans, at St. Michael's Church in Town Mitchell. Details will follow. This is very time and sometimes money consuming for Beth. I told her we would help by providing desserts like we do for the Christmas Tea and have done for other events. I think it will be on August 11^th but will reaffirm this as soon as Beth lets me know.
2. Gaelic Storm will be performing at St. Brenden's in Green Bay the nights of August 14,15.
3. .Milwaukee Irish fest will be the weekend of August 16-18. I am planning on going for both Saturday and Sunday. I will be sending Friday and Saturday nights with my niece who will go with me on Saturday and then will come home after the festivities on Sunday. Check irishfest.com if you have a computer and you can explore.

To enjoy a bit of Scottish Culture, the Highland Games are held on Labor Day weekend in Wauwatosa.

We will celebrate our annual Samhain pot luck and entry into the dark season, the season of rest, on Sunday October 27^th. This is such a comforting meeting. We always get a good turnout and have the BEST meal ever. So put it on you calendar, for sure.

The semi annual Literary Exchange will be scheduled for November. Joan Kramer will keep us informed as to that and we will decide what book we will share at the meeting May 11.

Our 8^th Annual Christmas Tea, presented for the public is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, December 7 with the 14^th as a backup at the Plymouth History Museum in Plymouth. We co host this with the Plymouth Museum and the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center. Here again we need bakers for the tea goodies. Thank you LuAnn Cleary Benninghaus for agreeing to handle this for me.

That's it for the year. We are a busy group. If you hear of anything, don't forget to let me know and I can send the information to everybody through my group lists.

Dia Dhuit

Mary Kunert

920-893-5139