Holiday Folk Fair 2001 -
The Culture of Peace
Help Make the Irish Representation a Success!
by Cate Harris
It is time for the annual Holiday Folk Fair. This year, it will again
be held at the Wisconsin State Fair Grounds, 84th and Greenfield. The dates
are November 16, 17 and 18.
Regarding the theme this year - it's called "The Culture of
Peace" and this excerpt from the Fair's brochure says it all: "A
world of cultures and customs are united in peaceful solidarity to be felt,
listened to and tasted through a variety of honored family recipes, artifacts,
ethnic music and spirited folk dances at the Holiday Folk Fair International."
The horror of what happened in September still is a part of our daily
lives, and the theme is even more resonant in the irony of what has happened.
A Culture of Peace is really exemplified by the wonderful gathering of
so many ethnic groups. The Holiday Folk Fair has been helping to show the
diversity of so many different people living together in peace for over
a half a century. This year is the Shamrock Club's 41st as a participant,
and it seems all the more important that we show the world that we are
active participants in this display of peace and diversity.
To do that, the Shamrock Club will need volunteers for our retail,
cultural, and food areas. We also need to sell tickets to the Folk Fair.
Admission is as follows: Adults $6 in advance; $8 at the gate. Children
ages 6-12 $6; Children under 6 Free. Tickets will be available for sale
at the November membership meeting. Please see Muriel Crowley. You can
also use the accompanying order form (page 3) to purchase tickets via mail.
As a sponsoring group of the Fair we need to sell a number of tickets or
make up the cost elsewhere.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: EARLY AND LATE SHIFTS
The Holiday Folk Fair is open during the following times:
Friday, Nov. 16, 4-11 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 17, 10 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 18, 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
The annual Holiday Folk Fair will take place November 16-18, 2001
at the Wisconsin State Fair Grounds. This is the week preceding Thanksgiving.
We will be needing help in a number of areas.
If you would like to work a four hour shift at the Holiday Folk Fair,
please contact the Shamrock Club's Holiday Folk Fair Chairmen, (Food) -
Pete and Fran Dundon at (414) 242-8245; (Sales) - Noreen Barclay at (414)
695-8563 or (Cultural) - Mary McAndrews at (414) 276-8779. Or contact us
at our e-mail address, shamrockclubinfo@aol.com. You will receive the annual
Folk Fair participant pin, and a coupon for food from the Shamrock Club
food booth.
The Holiday Folk Fair will have a number of special events during
the course of the weekend. They will include:
• Dance Pavilion: a place to learn dances from around the world
• International Exhibits: view exhibits of Japanese wooden dolls,
Mexican folk toys
• International Breakfasts: introduce yourselves to new tastes and
smells
• Farmers Market: on Saturday take home farm fresh items for Thanksgiving
Also: Food from around the world; unique gifts for you and someone
special; international entertainment; cultural exhibits to assist you in
learning about your heritage; demonstrations and hands on opportunities.
There will be an Interdenominational Religious Service on Sunday at 10
a.m.
Holiday Folk Fair International is produced by the International
Institute of Wisconsin. The International Institute is a not for profit
organization dedicated to international cooperation, understanding, and
a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural perspective through education, exchange,
communication, social activities, and immigration and naturalization services.
State Fair Park
8100 West Greenfield Avenue
West Allis, Wisconsin 53214
Folk Fair Hotline 414-225-6225
or 1-800-FAIR INTL
www.folkfair.org
So, please, participate in this year's Folk Fair, either by working
or just attending. We can show the world that we believe in this Culture
of Peace. And as a result, perhaps, create more understanding in the world
we find ourselves living.
Fox Cities
UPCOMING EVENTS
• NOV. 28 - Board Meeting, Conkey's in Appleton, 7 p.m. (all are
welcome to attend)
• DEC. 10 - Quarterly Dinner Meeting. Note your calendars! More information
in the December Emerald Reflections
Anna McGuiness' brother and sister inlaw arrived on September 10.
They flew to Boston first to visit other relatives. In order to return
to Ireland they had to change their return flight from Boston to Chicago.
Quite an eventful first trip to the USA!
Be sure to call me (920) 733-5254 with your address changes (moving
or snow bird address and which months of Emerald Reflections should be
sent there).
Thank you to Carol Felton for doing the October article for me. I'm
now home.
Send your renewals to me at N3406 Hample Rd., Black Creek, WI 54106.
Enclose the address label from your newsletter.
- Elaine Hoes (920) 733-5254
Milwaukee President's Message
After a slight lull in the activities, we are starting to gear up
for another busy season. Bob and Katy Voss and Cate Harris are putting
together teams for the Bradley Center. They are in desperate need of volunteers,
as several people have retired after many years of service. The Club earns
a lot of money for little output in this endeavor and it would be such
a shame for the Club to lose out on this income. Please speak to one of
the coordinators as soon as possible to join a team.
We also have Folk Fair to look forward to this month. Mary McAndrews
will be heading up the Cultural Area once again this year. Noreen Barclay
will return as the leader in the Sales Booth and Peter and Fran Dundon
will spearhead the Food Booth. Peter would like to see people come forward
to sign up as a manager for a day. If you are interested in volunteering
in any of these areas, please contact Mary, Noreen or Peter and Fran as
soon as possible. It will be very much appreciated.
I hope that most of you are taking in the concert series at the ICHC.
What a wonderful season they have put together.
Siochain,
Dane County
As the weeks pass by our thoughts and prayers still linger in our
minds for the terrible tragedy of September 11. Remember the strength and
love that comes to us with each Irish blessing in our time of need.
On November 10, 2001, the State Advisory Committee for all Shamrock
Clubs of Wisconsin will be meeting for a noon lunch at Jingles in Madison.
This is our Club's opportunity to exchange ideas and information about
the workings of other clubs in Wisconsin. Other Clubs have already gone
to a once a year payment of dues, usually at the end of the year. This
is being considered by the Dane County Shamrock Club as a preferred method
of membership payment as experienced by other clubs in Wisconsin. Follow-up
on this transition will be in the next newsletter.
Hopefully, by now all members have received their third Dane County
Shamrock Newsletter which keeps them informed about up-to-date events.
Right now the emphasis is on the upcoming Christmas Party. Prior to this,
Club members are planning to attend the Phil Coulter concert on Dec. 8,
2001 at the Orpheum Theater in Madison. For tickets call Patrick's Look
of the Isles (608-271-1707) at the Hilldale Store in Madison. Concert tickets
are priced at $27.50-$34. Our Club will have their own table for members
who wish both dinner and show priced at $49 per person. Remember there
is always room for more!
October 9 presented our first fun/fund raiser at Jingles lower level
- a special room for this event. The price of $10 per person included a
raffle, bingo with cash prizes, bagpipers, hor d'oeuvres and soft drinks.
Paul and Colleen find it refreshing and encouraging to see so many
new members joining our club and offering their ideas and support to the
board members and new co-presidents. Welcome and thanks to all our members,
many of whom have been reaching out to us with a positive approach since
we have assumed the co-presidency. This enthusiasm and heartfelt inspiration
have made us recall and share with you this traditional Irish Blessing:
"May you have... a song in your heart, a smile on your lips, and nothing
but joy at your fingertips."
- Co-presidents Paul Buckalew and
Colleen O'Meara Schams
Rock County
UPCOMING EVENTS
• NOV. 20 - 7:00 p.m. General Membership Meeting
• DED 18 - 6:00 p.m. Christmas Party at Janesville Senior Center,
69 S. Water St.
• JAN. 15 - 6:00 p.m. Chili Mix; 7:00 p.m. Membership Meeting
Our meetings now start at 7:00 p.m. because we have to be out of
the Senior Center by 9:00 p.m.
As I write this article, Ray and Mary Weigand are enjoying themselves
in Ireland along with several other family members. They will be back before
our November meeting and at that time will tell us about some of the highlights
and experiences of their stay in Ireland.
Our Christmas Party will be a Christmas Potluck so plan on bringing
one of your favorite Christmas dishes for everyone to enjoy. After dinner
we will have a "white elephant gift exchange." There will be
more details about this at the November meeting.
Hallamór Concert #3:
Aoife Clancy Band
Aoife Clancy is one of Ireland's best contemporary singers. Having
been born into one of the great families in Irish entertainment history.
Aoife has much to draw from. She began as a solo artist, often sharing
the stage with others such as the Clancy Brothers and Christy Moore. After
four super years with Cherish the Ladies, Aoife is again a solo artist
with her own band.
8 P.M. Saturday, November 10, 2001
Tickets: $15 Advance / $17 At Door
Irish Cultural and Heritage Center
2133 W. Wisconsin Ave. - Milwaukee
414) 345-8800
News From Our Chapters
Please send us your news. We have not heard from several chapters
of late. We really want to share your news.
Milwaukee's Annual
Christmas Party and Potluck Dinner
The Milwaukee Shamrock Club's Annual Christmas Party and Potluck
Dinner will be held on December 6, 2001 at the ICHC. Set up time will begin
at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. The club will provide beer, wine
and a meat entree. Please bring either a side dish or dessert to be shared.
HOLIDAY FOLK FAIR
November 16, 17, 18, 2001
The Shamrock Club must sell 125 Holiday Folk Fair Tickets
Any unsold tickets must be purchased by the club at full value.
HELP US MEET OUR GOAL!
SAVE NOW ON ADVANCE SALE FOLK FAIR TICKETS
Please send me _______ advance sale Holiday Folk Fair
Tickets at $6 each.
Name:_________________________________
Addres:________________________________
City/State:____________________ Zip_______
Mail your ticket request to:
MURIEL CROWLEY
1020 Georges Ave.,
Brookfield, WI 53045
Your tickets will be sent to you by return mail, and are good any
of the three days of Folk Fair, November 16, 17, 18.
MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: SHAMROCK CLUB OF WISCONSIN
"The Quiet Man" is 50!
Irish American film director John Ford's classic "Irish western"
The Quiet Man was released 50 years ago this year. Starring John Wayne
and Maureen O'Hara, and a host of great character actors from the Abbey
Theatre who joined Ford's own stock company of Irish American talent, this
was the first major Hollywood movie to be shot in the west of Ireland -
and in technicolor, too! To celebrate the movie's 50th birthday, we've
set aside Saturday, Nov. 24 as "John Ford Day" at the ICHC:
• Fordfest all day in the bar - watch John Ford movies on our new
big screen TV.
• Saturday evening 7 p.m. - talk on John Ford and The Quiet Man by
Joseph McBride, author of "Searching for John Ford: A Life",
the recently published and critically acclaimed biography of the Director.
Joe is a native Milwaukeean, living in the L.A. film community, and is
one of a very small number of people to actually have a meaningful interview
with John Ford. Books will be available for purchase and signing.
• Then, we will screen The Quiet Man itself in the Hallamor, with
a sing along of the songs featured in the movie. These include great old
favorites like The Isle of Inisfree, The Wild Colonial Boy, and The Last
Rose of Summer.
We will have prizes for John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara and Barry Fitzgerald
look alikes. You're encouraged to come dressed as characters from the movie.
Donation of $5 is requested for the evening. This will go to the Cultural
Arts Committee Fund, and used to foster and promote the Celtic Arts at
the Center.
The Tenors and Troubadors
Christmas Concert
John Gleeson, Eamonn O'Neill, Geraint Wilkes, Sheila Larkin and Bob
Harold, better known as The Tenors and the Troubadors, will be providing
a special Christmas entertainment in the Irish Cultural Heritage Center
Hallamor on Sunday afternoon, December 9th at 2 p.m.
Reminiscent of the Irish Christmas parlour concerts of good times
long ago, there will be songs and stories for the season, and some very
special guests. Don't miss this delightful highlight of the festive season!
Tickets $10 each, available from the ICHC. Call (414) 345-8800.
Center for Celtic Studies Launched
UWM Provost John Wannat, Irish Minister Mary Coughlan
and John Gleeson at the launching of the new Celtic Studies program at
U.W.M. The Irish Minister presented John with a beautiful Donegal parian
bowl.
The UWM Center for Celtic Studies, a dynamic forum for the study
of Celtic language, culture, politics, education and the arts was launched
recently at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. As Co-Director of the
Center, John Gleeson introduced The Honorable Mary Coughlan, T.D., Irish
Minister of State for the Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, who
offered, "Congratulations on what you have achieved. This is the culmination
of a dream for a lot of people here."
Funded in part by a grant from the Irish government, the Center provides
interdisciplinary international educational oppotunities for UWM students
and members of the greater Milwaukee community. It includes a Certificate
in Celtic Studies and study abroad programs, and a wide range of course
and research topics relating to historical and modern cultures that share
Celtic influence. These include early Continental Celts and the Breton,
Cornish, Galician, Irish, Manx, Scots and Welsh people.
A number of these courses will be offered at the ICHC. It is also
expected that the new Center and the ICHC will work together on various
events. All classes are now free to auditors over 60 years of age, so we
extend a Cead Mile Failte to you all!
Spring 2002 Courses include:
• Myths, Legends & Poems of the Celts
• Irish Women & the Law
• The Green Screen: Images of Ireland in Film
• The Irish Experience
• Civil Strife in Northern Ireland
• Second and Fourth Semester Irish Gaelic
• Irish Myth & Folklore
• Irish Literature
• Joyce
• Hume's Dialogues on Natural Religion
You'll find these courses listed in the Spring 2002 UWM Schedule
of Classes. Please call John at (414) 229-2608, or Ina at (414) 229-6520,
with questions.
An Invitation to Travel
Join Chancellor Nancy Zimpher and a team of UW-Milwaukee experts
including noted Irish culture authority, John Gleeson, on a momentous journey
to the Emerald Isle.
This early spring cultural mission will not only offer participants
tourist highlights of the Dublin, Derry, Sligo and Galway areas, but will
afford oportunities to experience the inner workings of both parliaments
in Ireland and major Irish universities, not readily available to the general
public. Add to this, that there is no better place to spend St. Patrick's
Day than Dublin, Ireland, and you will agree that this is a once in a lifetime
travel opportunity.
For more information, call Kim Beck at the Arts and Liberal Studies
Program Office (414) 227-3321.
Shamrock Club At The Museum
On Sunday, December 2, 2001, the Milwaukee Shamrock Club will be
making merry with an Irish Christmas celebration at the Milwaukee Public
Museum, in the European Village. We will be making Irish snowflakes and
doves. The Irish cottage will be open, and decorated for Christmas. The
Glencastle Irish Dancers will be dancing in the auditorium at 1:30 p.m.
So, visit us from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
And, mark your calendars for March 3, 2002 our annual St. Patrick's
Day appearance. There will be lace makers, peat postcard displays, dancers,
and more.
For more information, call (262) 782-4323.
Wanted:
4 People to make decorations for the Shamrock Club's
December Museum Display On Sunday, December 2, 2001
Call Muriel Crowley at 262-762-4323
Snippets of Ireland
If you have any tales of journeys to Ireland, of around 150 words,
and would like to share them, please send them to Emerald Reflections,
c/o Williamson Press, attention Brian Witt. 1909 W. White Street, Milwaukee,
WI 53204.
RTE News Items
IRISH SCIENTISTS INTEGRAL TO GAMMA RAY STUDY
Irish scientists from UCD, Maynooth and Dunsink Observatory will
be centrally involved in the operation of the European gamma ray space
observatory, to be launched in a year's time. Details of the European Space
Agency project were outlined at the Royal Irish Academy today. The observatory,
called INTEGRAL, will gather gamma rays, the most energetic radiation that
comes from space, pinpointing and studying their sources. It is also hoped
to gather new information about stellar explosions, black holes, and the
formation of elements.
DOCUMENT MAY EXPLAIN ORIGIN
OF NELSON'S PILLAR BOX
Historians at the National Museum have discovered a document which
may explain the origins of a box that was found by archaeologists excavating
the site of Nelson's pillar.
They say the document refers to the burial of a box with a brass
plate in the foundations of the pillar on O'Connell St. The brass plate
listed the committee of city merchants who financed the pillar. They included
the Lord Mayor of the time and Arthur Guinness.
It had been thought that the box would be opened in October sometime.
What was believed to be a copper box, measuring about two foot by sixteen
inches, is embedded in a block of granite.
Staff at the National Museum laboratory at Collins Barracks have
removed a stone lid and have discovered inscriptions in the copper underneath.
They appear to be names.
The words Valentine and Lindsey are among them. The box will be X-rayed.
Then mortar will be removed to examine the inscriptions.
Archaeologists were half expecting to find a "time capsule"
because there were references to one in newspaper articles in the 1960s
when the Pillar was blown up. Staff at the museum have still to decide
how to open the box.
An Irish Child's View of Thanksgiving
I often wished as a child in Galway
for a holiday like Thanksgiving.
Food, like the cornucopia, spilling forth.
Indolence, sloth,
and a million matches to watch.
The Pilgrims, and their hats,
and the turkeys, so well crafted and drawn
and the Indian Corn, hung on the door.
These images held me,
made me jealous of Americans.
And a reason for the family to be together again.
To say a prayer of thanks,
And to share a meal.
And to be there, as one.
Until the arguements broke out.
September 2001
The sounds of fall,
The smells, leaves dying, rustling in the wind.
The feel of the sun on your face,
in a last warming burst.
The quietness of the time,
as light goes dim and dark early.
The loss of innocence
As the planes crash and destroy all of our lives.
The need to hold on to the ones you love.
They may never walk in the woods again.
New Members
MILWAUKEE - Margie R. Norton and Claire Friedl; Andrew Harris; Thomas
and Karen O'Neil; Patrick M. Shay Family.
MEMBERSHIP REPORT: MILWAUKEE CHAPTER
• AUGUST: 94 memberships up for renewal, 71 paid, 23 dropped for
non-payment of dues.
• SEPTEMBER: 54 memberships up for renewal, 29 paid to date, 25 due
• OCTOBER: 43 memberships up for renewal, 16 paid to date, 27 due.
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