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Harp Strings

The Official Newsletter of the Harp & Shamrock Society of Texas Volume 42

April - May 2008

Issue 4

We Thank The New York Shields Pipes and Drums For A Grand Saint Patrick’s Day 2008!

We had the distinct honor of having New York’s Finest at the Alamo wreath laying ceremony March 17, 2008. The New York Shields Pipes and Drums made themselves at home in our fair city. The adventure started at 7 a.m. Friday March 14 when Carolyn Dowd and I picked up some of the band to take them to the Fox News First 29 television studio (photos inside). Four brave souls agreed to wake up and play at that ungodly hour. Drum Major Bill McMillen shared the couch with me and gave some

(continued page 3)

Dana Goodman and Carolyn Dowd show off the wrapped Hybrid Prius from Red McCombs Toyota.

HARP & SHAMROCK

Calling All Members...

April

I ET

Y OF T

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Est. 1966

HARP AND SHAMROCK SOCIETY OF TEXAS, INC P.O.Box 15306 San Antonio, TX 78212 PRESIDENT Anton Hajek, III

10- Board Meeting, 7:30p.m.Beethoven Maennerchor 18- Thank You Party! 7p.m. Beethoven Maennerchor 21- Pilgrimage to the Alamo, 4p.m. Travis Park to Alamo Plaza

May

8- Board Meeting, 7:30p.m.Beethoven Maennerchor 9- Nominating/General membership meeting, 7p.m. Beethoven Maennerchor

June

VICE PRESIDENT Joan Moody

12- Board Meeting, 7:30p.m.Beethoven Maennerchor 27- Election/General membership meeting, 7p.m. Beethoven Maennerchor

2nd VICE PRESIDENT *Vacant

10- Board Meeting, 7:30p.m.Beethoven Maennerchor

TREASURER Wayne C. Faught SECRETARY Eileen Burke- Faught CHAPLAIN Fr. Flanagan

July

Not just for Saint Patrick’s Day but for everyday:

Keeping It Green...Renew, Recycle, Reuse! From the Laptop  of Your Editor

Editor in Chief Kevin Patrick Dowd Staff: Terry Peak Joan Moody Pat Peak Eileen Burke Faught Carolyn Dowd John McCarthy

Please add Mae Kelly to your prayer list. She took a hard fall and will be on a long road to recovery. Get well soon Mae. I’d like to send out a prayer to all of our sick members. Amen. This edition of your newsletter is chock-full of pictures with more on the web site. A picture is worth a thousand words. I think I should apologize now because once you start thanking people by name you are bound to forget someone. If this someone is you, drop me an e-mail and I’ll fix it next issue. Our next big thing is the nominating meeting. If you feel like you have something to offer this society or are just looking to do a lot of work with little reward except self-satisfaction, why not think of running. We can use all the help we can get. The planning for next year has already begun. Will we continue our Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day celebration? Will we have a festival next year? Should we? Come to a meeting and help us to decide. We are looking to start a data base (a Mac friendly program like Filemaker Pro) and could use any help from an IT person or any one who can point us in the right direction. Please contact me with any information. Thank you.

Kevin Patrick Dowd

BOARD of DIRECTORS Darryl Britten Terence Peak Bob Wehner Patrick Clarke Ked Mullins Marcia Weiner Mary Jo Quinn Tish Villegas Kevin Dowd George Tracy Victor Villegas Bill Merriman Shirley Donohue Lucille Mitrane Steve Mattick IRISHMAN OF THE YEAR Robert Slattery- 2008

shamrockeditor@aol.com

From the President

Our Alamo Irish Festival and St Patrick Weekend Events were successful. The gods of weather smiled on us giving us good weather for most events and not too bad for the others. The mildness of the weather is directly related to our gross income receipts. Many thanks to all our volunteers who help with all aspects of set up, service, supply and clean up. Many thanks to our organizers. These volunteers spent countless hours planning all the events to make them come off perfectly. Feeling that San Antonians like “fiesta” medals, I had 300 presidential medals fixed to cards that bore a price and a bit about our Society. These I placed in the Irish store and at the beer sales. In addition to our normal summer events, there may be some informal mixers at a local pub. Would you volunteer to set one up? Anton Hajek, III

You never know who is going to show up at a Harp event! Gloria Walsh and Margaret Burke pose with a special guest. Cirque Du Soleil visited our 5k fun run/walk at Brackenridge Park.

Pat Peak, Anton Hajek and Carolyn Dowd present a plaque to the Potentate of Alzafar Shrine Paul McCombs at the St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Grand St. Patrick’s Day ...continued

history and background of the band to host Ernie Zuniga. Then the Pipes and Drums woke the place up. Brilliant! The weather cooperated with us for a great weekend. The Street parade was able to march past the Alamo in grand style led by our grand marshal Bill Sinkin. The parade entrants were judged in fine and fair fashion by Kevin and Gina Peak, their granddaughter Gracie, Roger and Kathy Minton and Peggy Dowd Bauer( visiting from Indianapolis). Chairman Carolyn Dowd, Pat Peak and their committee did an outstanding job. Joe Duarte and his team organized the line of march and forming areas in true military style. Thanks to Chuck Meade, George and Regina Tracy for their work at the parade reviewing stand. Bill Merriman did a superb job of announcer with the able assistance of Eileen Faught. A big thank you to them and all of the Harp members and friends who came out to march. A fine Texas-Irish tradition continues.

Harp and Shamrock members decided to play golf in the traditional dress of kilts. From left to right Bobby Jordan, Kevin Dowd, Bjorn Frende, Bill Cabellaro and chairman Wayne Faught.

Bill McMillen joins Kevin Dowd on the couch with host of Fox News First Ernie Zuniga.

First Place Winners Golf Scramble Chairman Wayne Faught awards the First place winners at Woodlake Golf course. Willie Galindo, Billy Troutz, Gaston Prieto and Ken Hart.

First Hole In One for the St. Patrickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day Golf Scramble! Lal Molloy visiting his brother Tom Molloy from Ireland hit a hole in one. Using borrowed clubs in a fierce wind and on the very first shot of his group. It was amazing and a great start to another successful golf scramble.

Second Place Winners. Kilts might have helped this team of Harp members take second place. David Fersdahl, Mike St. Clair, Bjorn Frende and Bill Caballero with Wayne Faught.

Number 39 is the Winner!

Judge Marcia Weiner and Chairman Wayne Faught hold winning golf ball #39, owned by Marcela Lopez, at the famous first golf ball drop.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians, Columkille Div. 1

marched down Alamo Street in grand Irish style, with old glory and tricolors waving and a few Irish wolfhounds at the lead.

The NY Shields took the stage at Fox News First 29 on Friday morning(above). Left to right are Bill McMillen, Brian Folmer, Tim McCarthy and Richard Kennedy. They all enjoyed a leisurely barge ride on Sunday afternoon (right). Every where they went they were welcomed and cheered.

Photo courtesy of Lisa Gerboth.

Our Honorees!

Some of the Harp volunteers who braved the cold morning at the 25th annual 5k fun run were (left to right) Pat Peak, Gloria Walsh, Melinda Britten, Sheila Carrola and Bob Walsh. We will hopefully be having a fund raiser for our very own St. Patrick. He is being kept at the Institute of Texas Culture and looking for a makeover. Are there any ideas on how to help?

shamrockeditor@aol.com

President Anton Hajek, Grand Marshal Bill Sinkin and Irishman of the Year Bob Slattery show off their new sashes at the Awards dinner at the Blue Star.

Mary Jo Quinn has found someone she can look up to after finishing the 5k fun run.

Reviews By Kevin Patrick Dowd

Papa and the Leprechaun King The Secret Legend of the Shamrock By Arthur Cola

After the hustle and bustle of Saint Patrick’s Weekend events it was great to be transported to a mythical place. The Ireland that the author dreams up is magical. The book is aimed at young readers and the young at heart. You have to love a book that starts with the end to The Quiet Man, a classic Irish movie. Papa in the book tells a tale of a trip to Ireland that was anything but normal. Arthur Cola has a gift for description and, if you let yourself, will bring you right into the scene. You’ll hear the crackle of the fire or see the rainbow over an emerald green field. Papa is an aging Indiana Jones and his adventure takes us to chats with ghosts, a visit to the kingdom of the wee folk and his pivotal part in the battle between good and evil. What more could you ask for? Well there is plenty. The book reads like a travel guide. The prose is populated with ancient ruins, wonderful castles and gorgeous views of our emerald isle. I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Glendalough, the monastery of St. Kevin. To have it as part of Papa’s grand adventure makes it all the more entertaining. I can highly recommend this book. As an old family saying goes: “Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.” So don’t let reality stop you from having a good read and a good time. The adventure doesn’t have to stop with the book. The Leprechaun King tour is set for Oct. 15-25, 2008. This 11-day tour will take you to all the spots the book visits and then some. For information: www.carlsontravel.com/tripco or 800-922-4036. 6

By Joan Moody

Liffey Rivers and the Mystery of the Winking Judge Liffey Rivers and The Mystery of the Sparkling Solo Dress Crown By Brenna Briggs

Since I have two young grandnieces, I thought it would be fun to read something exciting for that age group. Brenna Briggs has written two detective mystery type books for young readers based on an Irish dancer whom she calls Liffey Rivers. Liffey is 13 and lives with her widowed lawyer father in the Chicago area. Liffey likes to attend Irish dance festivals and hopes to place high enough in order to get her own solo dress which is different than her school dance costume. Liffey has a routine that she follows since her dad can’t go with her to these festivals but in addition to that she is fey, someone who can tell when something is not right. She has been told that her late mother was like that. She has been noticing that some strange characters have been showing up including the man she calls ‘skunk man’ because of the long white strip of hair in the back. In any case he knows that she is aware of something strange and is trying to stop it in her own way. Without going into anymore details, ‘skunk man’ uses these dance festivals to get rid of stolen jewels to his accomplices for transfer elsewhere. By the way as a result of her detective skills she does get her solo dress. There is a vocabulary of Irish dance expressions at the back of each book so readers can figure out what she is talking about. I advise readers to get their children, nieces, grandchildren or grandnieces these two books by Brenna Briggs. For information: www.booksurge.com.

Movie Review Update By KPD

The movie Once, reviewed last issue, won the Academy Award® for Best Original song “Falling Slowly.” Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová performed the song the night they received their Oscar®. In her acceptance speech Markéta said: “This song was written from a perspective of hope, and hope at the end of the day connects us all, no matter how different we are.” Well said and well done. You can download the song free at the movie website. http://www.foxsearchlight.com/once/ It is safe to say you might entertain some women when you set up right outside the ladies room. Diana Jordan and Melissa Schulz find a seat on Bill’s lap. Fuggedaboutit!

Sean Habina rubs Terry Peak’s newly shaved head for luck. Terry shaved it for St. Baldrick, a children’s charity. A big thanks to both of them for their hard work and dedication over the weekend.

Member News

The Awards dinner was a great night down at the Blue Star Brewing Company thanks to Melissa Schulz and Sheila Carrola. Carolyn Dowd gave sashes to our Grand Marshal Bill Sinkin and our president Anton Hayek. Joan Moody presented Bob Slattery with the Irishman of the Year. He was given a sash as well as the prized Cuchullain. The base for the first time is native rock from Texas with Ireland supplying the statue. We are Texas Irish! Congratulations and a big thank you to Richard Donovan for the outstanding job he did with Soler’s Sports for our 25th 5k fun run. If you were at the festival then you saw some of the society’s hardest workers. Victor and Tish Villegas, Darryl and Melinda Britten, Diana Jordan, Dana Goodman, Bobby Jordan and the stage crew of Greg Lewis, Judy Lewis and Nelson Goodrich. We could not do it without the “man behind the curtain” our treasurer Wayne Faught and his standout crew Sean Habina and Lucille Mitrane. It took many volunteer hours and we hope to see you all at the thank you party.

Four kilts and a skirt!

Laura Anthony is surrounded by kilts. Bobby Jordan, Kevin Dowd, Bob Burke and Bob Meade sporting his new shaved head. Bob raised money for St. Baldrick the children’s charity. Gracie McGrew’s smile says it all! This is why we have these parades and why we promote the Irish in San Antonio.

The Harp & Shamrock Society of Texas Newsletter Editor P.O. Box 15306 San Antonio, TX 78212 www.harpandshamrock.org Email: Shamrockeditor@aol.com

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Mark your calendar

April

Thanks To Our Sponsors

10- Board Meeting, 7:30p.m. Beethoven Maennerchor 18- Thank You Party! 7p.m. Beethoven Maennerchor 21- Pilgrimage to the Alamo, 4p.m. Travis Park

May

8- Board Meeting, 7:30p.m. Beethoven Maennerchor 9- General Membership Meeting, Nominations 7p.m. Beethoven Maennerchor

June

12- Board Meeting, 7:30p.m. Beethoven Maennerchor 27- General Membership Meeting, Elections 7p.m. Beethoven Maennerchor

Keeping It Green... Renew, Recycle, Reuse! ÂŠ2008 Dowd Ranch Publishing

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