DANE COUNTY SHAMROCK CLUB, INC.

WELCOME TO THE DANE COUNTY SHAMROCK CLUB . . . where Irish Americans and those who love Ireland and its culture gather in friendship.

President's Message

My name is Sue Morrison and I was recently elected President of the Dane County Shamrock Club. I have been a member for several years. I have previously served on the board of directors as a trustee and have been Sunshine/Hospitality Chairperson. I hope that I will do a good job in my new position, following in the footsteps of Robert Kerans, Margaret Ruppert and Jim Bennett.

This is a great organization with about 100 members. Many of you have participated in some of the club events such as the Christmas Party in December, St. Patrick's Day Dinner and the Irish Flag Ceremony in the Capitol in March and the Annual Picnic in June. It is nice to meet the members at these events and I hope more will join in.

The club holds meetings on the second Tuesday of September, October, November, February and April. The Coliseum Bar has generously allowed the club to meet there without a fee. The business meeting begins at 5:30 pm and the general meeting starts at 6:30 pm. Various Irish topics have been presented at the general meeting such as Irish language lessons, history of Ireland, dance and music presentations to name a few.

A goal as president will be to get more members to attend the meetings. I would like some input from the members. Is Tuesday night a bad night for the meetings? Would another day be better, such as Sunday afternoon? Are there topics of interest for the meetings? If you have any suggestions, please call me and leave me a message. My phone number and e-mail address is on the last page of the newsletter. I am hoping to find someone who is knowledgeable about the harp to give a presentation. I am also interested in ideas to publicize the club and increase memberships.

We have a new Sunshine and Hospitality Chair; Eileen Meely Heinrichs has graciously volunteered to fill the position. Here is a little bit about the Irish in me. My Clans are Riley, Barry and Manson. Recently my husband and I traveled on an 11 day bus tour of the Irish Isle in October 2007. We viewed 26 of the 32 counties, including Northern Ireland. I am not full of blarney as I did not kiss the blarney stone because it was raining while we were there. I have been a leprechaun, not a very impressive one, both in Madison's St. Patrick's Day Parade and at Irish Fest in Milwaukee.

August, the month of Irish festivals, is upon us. LaCrosse Irish Fest is August 8-10, Milwaukee Irish Fest is August 14-17 and the Dubuque Irish Hooley is on August 23. I plan to attend a couple of these and encourage members to attend to enjoy the music and cultural activities. The club will be a co-sponsor with the Fitchburg Senior Center of the August 7th visit by Ann O'Farrell who is an Irish author of "Norah's Children" and "Michael" (see article in newsletter). I hope many of you will come out to hear Ann speak about her books.

I want to thank the club members for expressing confidence in me by electing me to the office of President of the Dane County Shamrock Club.