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Harp Strings
The Official Newsletter of the Harp & Shamrock Society of Texas Volume 42
June - July 2008
Harp Members March in King William Parade
Brian Clark and Bob Dunpfy lead the AOH and the Irish in the King William Parade. The crowds were thick and wild. A beautiful morning for a good stretch of the legs.
We had a great day to show off the Irish in San An-
tonio. A big thank you goes out to the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Columkille Division 1, for inviting the Harp and Shamrock Society to join them for a Saturday morning stroll up Guenther Street into the King William’s residential historic district (the first in Texas). Afterwards Melissa Schulz played host for the marchers. Thank you Melissa. We had such a great reception from the crowds along the route that we’d like to have more Irish participants for next year. We will be looking at ways to be more involved in Fiesta next year. Would you like to join us? A special thanks goes to Brian Clark and Bob Dunpfy.
Issue 5
Halfway To Saint Patrick’s Day is here!
The planning is under way for our annual Halfway
to Saint Patrick’s Day weekend. Have you stepped up to help? It seems as if the usual suspects are at it again. Carolyn Dowd has been calling the meetings and getting the word out for help. Bobby Jordan has stepped up to find us a golf venue. He, Diana Jordan and Bill Caballero have done an outstanding job deciding on Olympia Hills for our golf scramble on Friday, September 19, 2008. The application will be online soon. Olympia Hills is located in Universal City just off I35 outside of Loop 1604. It was rated #1 “Best New Affordable Public Golf Course” in Texas and #4 in America by Golf Digest magazine for 2001. There will be ample opportunities to volunteer. Can we count on you? (continued page 3)
Informal Mixer @ Our Glass A Good Time For All
Eileen Faught, Brian Clark, Joan Moody and Melissa Schulz enjoy the craic at the mixer.
HARP & SHAMROCK
Calling All Members...
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HARP AND SHAMROCK SOCIETY OF TEXAS, INC P.O.Box 15306 San Antonio, TX 78212 PRESIDENT Anton Hajek, III VICE PRESIDENT Joan Moody 2nd VICE PRESIDENT Terrence Peak TREASURER Wayne C. Faught SECRETARY Eileen Burke- Faught CHAPLAIN Fr. Flanagan BOARD of DIRECTORS Darryl Britten 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 Editor in Chief Kevin Patrick Dowd Staff: Terry Peak Joan Moody Pat Peak Eileen Burke Faught Carolyn Dowd John McCarthy ©2008 Dowd Ranch Publishing
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*** No Board Meeting this month!! *** 10-Member Mixer, 7-9p.m. at Pizza Italia 2950 Thousand Oaks
August
14- 7:30p.m. Board Meeting American Legion Alamo Post #2 3518 Fredricksburg Road
September
11- 7:30p.m. Board Meeting *** Location to be determined! Check the website *** 19- Halfway to Saint Patrick’s Day Golf Scramble Olympia Hills Golf and Conference Center Universal City, Texas 20- Halfway to Saint Patrick’s Day Hooley *** Location to be determined! Check the website*** 27- Installation Banquet/ General Membership Meeting *** Location to be determined! Check the website*** Not just for Saint Patrick’s Day but for everyday:
Keeping It Green...Renew, Recycle, Reuse! Your Gaelic lesson: Ni ceart go cur le cheile There is no strength without unity! From the Laptop of Your Editor This is the summer reading issue of your newsletter. It is chock full of reviews and recommendations. I hope you can find the time to curl up with one of these books and relax. A drought seems to be taking hold again this summer. Since you can’t and shouldn’t water your lawn, grab a chilled cocktail and a good read. I’ve been able to get some history on our Saint Patrick statue thanks to Margaret Burke and her daughter Eileen Faught. ”One feature of the parade was the 200-year-old statue of St. Patrick, carved from a single piece of wood during the 18th century, and donated to the Society by the Most Rev. Bishop Steven A. Leven, of San Angelo.” This was written by Joe P. Faulkner March 18, 1973 for the now extinct S.A. Light newspaper. Wouldn’t it be great to get our St. Patrick back leading our parade and back on display at the Institiute of Texas Culture? If you need some good hay, I have square bales for sale.
Kevin Patrick Dowd
shamrockeditor@aol.com 210-845-4424
From the President
Exciting times! There are new members elected for the Leadership of this Society. Taz Stanfill stepped up to host the first informal after-work mixer at the Our Glass an Irish-run business. Taz did a beautiful job of organizing the mixer, including providing snacks and party favors. It was fun to sit and talk with no business agenda. You guys that say you want these events, jump in. Many things come across my desk, requests on events, complaints, agenda items, etc. An odd request came recently from the Institute of Texas Cultures. It seems that an Irish feller named Sullivan had an 1897 Brougham Carriage that the Institute now owns. The carriage is housed at the Texas Transportation Museum on Wetmore road. They would like us to (a) restore it or (b) house it. I’ve seen the carriage. When built, it must have been top of the line, something out of an old English movie. The driver sat high in front, top hat and heavy overcoat. The occupants sat inside, in silken luxury. The door and windows fit tightly. Remember no heating or AC. Curtains for the windows protected the occupants from prying eyes. Think of the secrets whispered, the liaisons, the trysts, the grandeur. Our society doesn’t have money in that amount for that sort of project. But if someone has an interest, or a contact, raise your hand! Anton Hajek, III
Some more dates to put on your calendar: October
4- Days of Caring 9- Board Meeting 18/19- Wine Tasting Fund Raiser (Tentative) 25- San Antonio Founder’s Day 11- 13- 20- 5- 11- 20-
November
Veteran’s Day Parade Board Meeting Memorial Service
December
Christmas Party Board Meeting Feast of Sharing
Halfway...continued
Who can forget the very first Hole In One for our Society? Lal Malloy did a grand job of starting off our March golf scramble with that perfect hit into a wild wind. Lets see if the luck of the Irish will continue. There will be great prizes and plenty of chances to win. Did I mention we had a Guinness golf bag as one of our prizes in March? The team of Wayne and Eileen Faught, Joan Moody and Dana Goodman are also doing their bit to get our halfway activities off the ground. New management, rules and fees at the Beethoven Maenerchor have us scrambling for a place to have our Hooley. We are still actively looking for a place to have the Hooley Saturday September 20. There is talk of an Irish stew cook-off. Depending on the venue we hope to do that. So all of you cooks out there clean them stew pots and get ready to order up the lamb. More details will be forthcoming. We thought we were all set, but the team is working hard to find us a new venue. Melissa Schulz is involved, and she is doing a great job with the social committee and working on the yearly calendar. Great job Melissa! Since we are getting down to the wire there is talk of bringing back the phone tree. Which is members calling members. Would you be willing to be a branch of that tree? Our e-mail list grows every month and we do most of our communicating that way. I know that that is my preferred method of communicating. But if we don’t hear from you we won’t change what we are doing.
Thank You
A big thank you goes to Taz Stanfill for our first successful member mixer. She made it a very enjoyable night for all. Thank you to Our Glass for hosting our mixer. Thank you to the Nominating Committee for their hard work Diana Jordan, Lucille Mitrani, Ked Mullins, Bob Szczepanski, and Shane Webb. “There is an unseen circularity in life, and we are all interacting with the people we are supposed to help and be helped by.”
Peggy Noonan John Paul the Great
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Margaret Burke receives her Honorary Vice President from President Anton Hajek at the Nominations and General Membership meeting.
Our very own St. Patrick is being kept at the Institute of Texas Culture and looking for a makeover. Any ideas on how to help?
shamrockeditor@aol.com
You must make an effort next year to come to the King William Parade. If for no other reason but to see belly dancers shaking and shimmying to a tune on the bagpipe! The Karavan Studio was moving to the beat of Harrel Sutherland and the rest of the bagpipers of the San Antonio Pipes and Drums. This was a true “you had to be there moment!” Visit the band’s website at: http://www.sapipesanddrums.com
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A close up shot of Saint Patrick’s mitre shows what time has done to deteriorate the paint. Who knows how the wood underneath is fairing on our over two hundred year-old friend?
Carolyn Dowd, Kevin Dowd, Maryann Hajek, Anton Hajek, and Bob Burke get ready to hit the parade route for the King William Parade.
Bob Burke entertains new member Jim Egan and his wife Judy (not pictured) at A closeup of Saint Patrick’s the Our Glass pub. Melissa wanted to have hand. He is holding it out a best knees competition. Maybe next time. for help.
Melissa Schulz has a head up on Anton Hajek at the Our Glass mixer.
One of our new members Kari Dix enjoys herself at the Our Glass meeting members. Thanks to Bob Meade for introducing her to us. Anton Hajek and Melissa Schultz look on as Chuck Meade shows off his winning money hat at the nominating meeting.
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By Kevin Patrick Dowd Books
Reviews
Next Of Kin By John Boyne
What an excellent period piece set in 1936, between the World Wars. The author does a fine job of weaving an art heist, a murder, a royal scandal, a gambling debt, a murder and great court scenes into this fantastic thrilling book. “The problem is that one runs out of things to say. It seems so insincere to offer the same old condolences over and over.” This is from the beginning of the book at the wake of the main protaganist’s wealthy uncle. A surprise at the reading of the will sets things in motion. “… The young people never hold on to the old customs.” This proves true for our two main characters as they weave their way through this book. John Boyne taught creative writing at the Irish Writers’ Centre and his 2005 book Crippen was nominated for the Sunday Independent Irish Novel of the year Award. www.homasdunnebooks.com www.stmartins.comt
When The Bronx Burned By John J. Finucane
Keeping in the thriller theme this is also a period piece. Only it is set in the not too distant past for some of us: 1972, The Bronx, New York. An arsonist is hard at work and New York’s Bravest are doing their best to keep the body count low. This is true of our hero of the story Jackie Mulligan. As our tale opens Jackie is searching a burning apartment. The fast moving story keeps a quick pace as the brothers of Engine 85 start to do what the city politicians of that time wouldn’t do. They begin investigating
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the suspicious fires in their neighborhood. The description of the firefighting is first rate and the Bronx of my youth is brought vividly to mind. John Finucane is a retired lieutenant in the New York City Fire Department and his prose lets you know that he has stared that red devil in the eye and lived to write about it. He is now giving us a safe first hand view of the workings of the NYFD. They are not called New York’s Bravest for no reason. This is a great job for a first novel. I hope to see more. http://www.whenthebronxburned.com
Movies
“Before Romeo and Juliet, There was…”
Tristan + Isolde
Directed by Kevin Reynolds Written by Dean Georgaris Released 13 January 2006 Tristan and Isolde! James Franco and Sophia Myles portray our starcrossed lovers and do a wonderful job of it. A fictional tale written by Dean Georgaris based loosly on an old celtic myth from the Dark Ages. After the fall of the Roman empire the English tribes are fighting amongst themselves and are in constant threat of raiders from the little island to their West. Ireland was never part of the empire and remained fairly united. The Irish king Donnchadh works to keep the English divided. Epic battles, sweeping scenes, and a love triangle are all well filmed and well acted. You’ll lose yourself in this tale well told. This tale is possibly the origin of the tale of King Arthur and Camelot. What armor can protect a heart from love? “I don’t know if life is greater than death, but love was more than either.” Isolde: If things were different, if we lived in a place without duty, would you be with me? Tristan: That place does not exist.
Update
My book review from the last newsletter made it to Ireland before me. The St. Patrick Centre in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland is displaying my review of Papa and the Leprechaun King by Arthur Cola.
By Joan Moody
Reviews
Music
Brunet is a special treat encompassing the fiddling techniques of Ireland, Brittany and Quebec. www.kevinburke.com or www.LoftusMusic.com
Books
CELTIC THUNDER
A brand new CD presenting the best in a new generation of five male vocalists performing the music of the likes of the “Mountains of Mourne” and such hits as “Brothers in Arms” and “Desperado.” Celtic Thunder’s music director is the international composer Phil Coulter. Celtic Thunder will perform in San Antonio on November 22 at the AT&T Center. www.celticthunder.com (Celtic Thunder was also a well-known Irish American band from the East coast and based around the Washington, D.C. area. The 1988 album “Light Of Other Days” is a great mix of music with both self-composed numbers, and Irish and Irish-American ballads and dance music. The group had been around since 1977 and played at the Clinton White House twice. When I first heard the name again I thought the band was back, but this is an entirely different group. You can hear the song “When New York Was Irish” on You Tube. KPD)
THE THIEF OF TIME By John Boyne Boyne is creative in this work of mystery and from that point is exceedingly delightful. It is a story of Matthieu Zela who before the end of the 18th Century has found that he has stopped ageing and then at the end of the 20th Century he looks back on a full life, never forgetting his first love, Dominique Sauvet and remembering his 19 wives and 900 or so lovers. His question then becomes, “what is the worth of immortality without true love?” “Thief of Time” is skillfully written and works history into a playful art form reviewing its past and present. www.stmartins.com
LOFTUS MUSIC
Kevin Burke is one of the most renowned of Irish fiddlers and a personal favorite of mine. The publication by Loftus Music of His “Across The Black River” with Cal Scott is out of this world. The beautifully crafted interpretations of tunes found in the song such as “Boys of the Lough” and “The Lighthouse Keepers Waltz” add to the joy. Two other discs from Kevin are“Patrick Street: On The Fly” and the fiddle tunes in “Equinox” the fifth album from the Celtic Fiddle Festival. In “Patrick Street” the tunes of Galway Shawl and Cuz Teahans is breathtaking. In “Equinox” the fiddling of Kevin Burke, Christian Lemaistre and Andre
THE DOWRY By Walter Keady “The Dowry” is a humorous discourse of the plight of dowries or lack of same which causes problems in a fictionalized Irish village of the 1940’s and is a comedy on Irish rural manners which is a joy to behold. The parish priest attempts to share the wealth of a specific dowry, that of Aideen Glynn, to make possible a whole series of weddings. The priest’s plan is a marriage chain going from couple to couple with all the problems this incurs. Keady’s work is reminiscent of “Waking Ned Devine” which created a charming story of pastoral Ireland. Thomas Dunne Books, New York www.stmartins.com
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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
July
Thanks To Our Sponsors
*** No Board Meeting this month *** Summer vacation! 10- Member Mixer-7-9p.m. @ Pizzza Italia 2950 Thousand Oaks
August
14- Board Meeting 7:30p.m. American Legion Post #2 21- Member Mixer
September
19- Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day Golf Tournament-
Olympia Hills Golf Course 20- Hooley ***Location to be determined*** Check the website: www.harpandshamrock.org
Keeping It Green... Renew, Recycle, Reuse!
©2008 Dowd Ranch Publishing