Just a reminder---The 7^th Annual Irish Festival will take place March 5^th & 6^th, 2011 at the Bavarian Gardens of the GASC. Please mark your calendar for that weekend.  We will NEED every member of the club to volunteer for that weekend. Since we did meet our goal of 8,000 attendees to our 2010 fest, we are setting our projected goal even higher.  For our 7^th Annual Irish Fest, we expect 10,000 people to attend. 

We plan on having the trip to Ireland Raffle again. Each family will be contacted very soon by one of our members about purchasing or selling raffle tickets for the Trip to Ireland.  The sooner we begin the more successful we can be! The proceeds from the Trip to Ireland Raffle held at our 6^th Annual Irish Fest paid for all our entertainment at the event.  The success of the raffle is dependent upon our members. Success can only occur when members are involved in selling tickets. We have over 130 families in our club.  If every family could buy or sell just 10 tickets, we would take in $6500 minus the cost of the trip.  For all the “snowbirds” it should be easy to sell raffle tickets because most likely no one in your area will be offering a chance to win a trip to Ireland sponsored by the Cape Coral Irish American Club. Please help the club by taking raffle tickets to sell. If you have any questions please call Bud at 239-542-5622.

Now for the very good news!  Bud Martin has procured our headliners for our 7^th Annual Irish Fest.  “The Screaming Orphans” are a very popular group from Ireland—Joan, Angela, Grainne and Marie Therese Diver. They are a pop-rock band and are four fun, high-spirited, musically–obsessed sisters. Their sound has been compared to the Bangles and the Cranberries and other musical influences range from the Beatles, R.E.M., Indigo Girls, to traditional Irish music.  Over the years we have heard our festival need entertainers who will appeal to the young attendees. “The Screaming Orphans” are very popular in the USA and do have a large fan base.  They have appeared many times in SWFL and entertain on the Irish Caribbean cruise which takes place in January. They are appearing at many Irish festivals throughout the US.  Bud continues to negotiate with other performers for next year’s festival.

Our first meeting of the new season will take place on Thursday, September 2nd at the Elks Lodge.  You are always welcome to have dinner at the Elks before the meeting.  Dinner is served from 5 to 7pm. More details about the meeting in the August Newsletter.

If you have acquired an email address please email Mary at maryoneill6@yahoo.com with this update.

Even though our club has no summer activities planned, The United Irish of SWFL has invited our members to a...

May the Lord keep you in His hand and never close His fist too tight.

Irish Blessing

Some Irish Facts

•  The longest place name in Ireland is Muckanaghederdauhaulia, in County      Galway.
• An odd Irish birthday tradition is to lift the birthday child upside down and give his head a few gentle bumps on the floor for good luck. The number of bumps should allegedly correspond to the child’s age plus one.
• So long paddy wacker. Wooden truncheons, which have been carried by Irish police since the 1800s, will finally be phased out this year, and replaced by lightweight retractable batons. The truncheons, with notches, fancy carvings and names cut into them, were often passed down generations of gardai.
• The original Guinness Brewery in Dublin has a 9,000 year lease on its property, at a perpetual rate of 45 Irish pounds per year.
• IRELAND FACT: A ROUGH HANGOVER CURE: One traditional Irish cure for a hangover was to be buried up to the neck in moist river sand.
• The island of Montserrat is sometimes called "The Emerald Isle of the Caribbean," and has a shamrock carved above the door of the governor's home, areas called Cork and Kinsale, and people with names like O'Garra and Riley. This is because the island was originally settled in 1633 by Irish-Catholics, who came from the nearby island of St. Kitts. (After a major volcanic eruption from 1995 - 2003, Montserrat is now partially open to tourism again.)

• IRELAND FACTS: HANDMADE GOLF COURSE...County Mayo's Carne Golf Links, which was built between 1987 and 1993, was constructed mainly by farmers using hand spades and rakes.
• Thanks http://www.ireland-fun-facts.com/ireland-facts.html

April 2010 Newsletter

Our last meeting of the season held on Thursday, April 1^st was a great time for all 38 members & guests who attended.  After a short business meeting Teresa Roddy, guest speaker, gave a brief history of ceili dancing and the difference between ceili dancing, step dancing and set dancing.  Then the fun began.  Brian Bonner played the accordion while Teresa and Una Bonner instructed many of the members on some simple ceili dances.  It was a preview of ceili dancing instructions which was held at the VFW Post on Wednesday, April 7^th and will be continue on Wednesday, April 14^th beginning at 6:30pm. The VFW Post is located at 4709 SE 11^th Place. Come to dance or just to listen. You don't need a partner, just some patience and a willingness to have fun.

As you were informed in the March Newsletter, the 6^th Annual Irish Festival was very successful.  We had more than 8,000 people in attendance.  After we have paid all expenses of the festival we expect to have a profit of $40,000.  We have already made several charitable contributions. These organizations include the Mahigan Scholarship Fund, the Organ Transplant Recipients, Funds for US Soldiers sponsored by the Elk’s Lodge, The Cape Coral Caring Center, the ALS Association, Boy Scout Troop #34, the Cape Coral Special Populations, the Candlelighters of SWFL, The Knights of Columbus, Cape Coral Hope Hospice, and The Cape Coral Rowing Team. If we did not have the wonderful volunteers we do have, our club could never have made these contributions.

On April 8^th the Cape Coral Irish American Club hosted the Festival Volunteer Party at the Yacht Club Pavilion. We had 102 people who had volunteered for the festival.  Eighty people were in attendance at the party.  A special “thank you” goes out to club members, Walter and Karen O’Rourke, who catered the party. The food was excellent!  Another “thank you” goes to Brian Bonner, for his wonderful music.  Thanks also to Una Bonner who organized a demonstration of ceili dancing.  Anne Carney displayed all of the 300 pictures she had taken at the festival and she encouraged the volunteers to take any pictures in which they were included.

 Mark your calendars for next year!  THE 7^TH ANNUAL IRISH FESTIVAL OF CAPE CORAL will take place on March 5^th & 6^th, 2011 at the Bavarian Gardens of the GASC. As you know, planning for the next festival begins as soon as the previous festival ends.  Much work must be done.  One of the most successful aspects of fund raising for the festival was the Trip to Ireland Raffle especially since the club was reimbursed the full amount from the company representing the Pine Island Travel Agency.  We are very much aware of the need to continue this raffle. The best way we have of accomplishing that goal is to ask our members to sell raffle tickets to their friends and relatives.  You will be contacted at a later date about selling these tickets. We also had great success with our Ad/Program Book. The book grew from 32 pages in 2009 to a full 48 pages in 2010.  It is essential that we have more salesmen out contacting businesses in Cape Coral.  Please consider being an ad book salesman.

Thanks to all those who voted for West of Galway Band!

Due to the “snowbirds” flying & driving north there seemed to be little interest in having a social at the Elks on Thursday, May 6^th.  For this reason we have decided not to meet until September. . Since we have no planned events during the summer one of our members, Kerry Ann Bauer has a suggestion. The GASC will have several Saturday night dances now through September of various type themes. Kerry will forward the information to the club. This would be a good opportunity for the club to get table(s) together at the dances as a way to continue to get together during the off-season months.  And we all know where the GASC club is located after spending many hours there on March 6^th & 7^th.  If Club members would like to attend, Kerry can offer same ticket price as a GASC member. Information about the dances will be included in the newsletter or you can contact Kerry Ann at (home: kerrysteve@webtv.net  or work: Kerry.bauer@am.sony.com)

MARCH 2010 NEWSLETTER     

The 6th Annual Irish Fest was a huge success thanks to our 102 festival volunteers.  Without our volunteers, the festival would not have been successful.  Despite the cold weather on Saturday night and the competition of the "Celebrate Cape Coral" weekend, we had over 8,000 people attend our festival.  That is an increase of 2,000 in attendance from last year.  Everyone should pat themselves on the back for a job well done.  Many of our volunteers admitted they had a good time at the fest even though they worked hard.  Everyone had an opportunity to get to know other members they may not have met at any of the club meetings. An added bonus of the festival was that we now have 34 new member families in our club. Any fest requires much advance planning which begins immediately after ending the previous event. It is the work of the volunteers which actually makes the festival a success.  Our club has the greatest members and we appreciate everyone for their dedication.   Even after six years of experience there is always an opportunity to improve.  A detailed report of the festival will be given at the April 1st meeting.

    We had our best turnout at our March 4th meeting.  There were 64 members & 4 guests present.  Dr. Alice Carney presented her personal analysis of the bestselling book "County Mayo" written by Mary Pat Kelly.  Our next meeting will be Thursday, April 1st at the Elk's Lodge which is located at 4631 SE 10th Pl.  The meeting begins at 7pm.  Our guests will be club members Brian & Una Bonner who will acquaint us with ceili dancing.  Teresa Roddy (from Sligo) via Detroit will explain what ceili dancing is and the difference between that, step and set dancing.  They will then demonstrate a few very, very simple dances and involve the members and guests present. Dinner is served from 5 to 7pm and the menu includes a great chef's salad, fried fish, fried shrimp, hamburgers, chicken wings or barbeque ribs. All dinners are very reasonably priced. Have you been searching for a place to do ceili dancing?  Come to the VFW Post located at 4709 SE 11th Place on Wednesday, April 7th and/or April 14th from 7pm to 9pm.  Brian & Una Bonner have  made arrangements with the VFW.  You do not have to know how to do ceili dancing.  You can just come and enjoy the company. If all goes well the Bonner's plan to get it started back up in October.

Last call for membership renewal!  Renewal must be completed by March 31rst.  Click HERE for renewal form.

FEBRUARY 2010 NEWSLETTER

    We had a wonderful turn out at our February 4th meeting.  There were 46 members & 7 guests present. Two new members, Linda Tanos and Gail Watson were introduced to the group. Welcome to both of you.   Anne Carney, native of County Mayo & club member, presented her personal reflection on the influence of Irish music in her life. Our next meeting will be Thursday, March 4th at the Elk's Lodge which is located at 4631 SE 10th Pl. The meeting begins at 7pm. Our guest speaker is Dr. Alice Carney, native of County Mayo, former school librarian & club member, will present her analysis of the bestselling book "County Mayo" written by Mary Pat Kelly.  Dinner is served from 5 to 7pm and the menu includes a great chef's salad, fried fish, fried shrimp, hamburgers, chicken wings or barbeque ribs.

     Reminder! Membership renewal must be completed by March 31st.  After this date we will assume you do not wish to remain a part of the Cape Coral Irish American Club and will remove your name from our list.

     We are planning a night at Cultural Park Theatre to see "Kiss Me Kate" on Friday, February 26th.  The cost is $11/person-group rate.  The play begins at 8pm.  If you have not signed up and are interested please call 540-2161.  Tickets are going fast.

     We are also looking into a Sunset Cruise toward the end of March.  The cruise would be two hours and would be leaving from Cape Coral one hour before sunset.  The cost will be between $24 & $27 per person, but we need at least 30 people to sign up.  Presently, we have eight people interested depending on the date. If interested please call 540-2161.

Festival, Festival, Festival!!!

     That seems to be the only thing on our minds right now.  We want everyone in SWFL to have our 6th Annual Irish Festival of Cape Coral on their minds as an event they just cannot miss. We have been passing out information about our festival at several venues.  We will be at the Farmer's Market at Club Square for the next three weeks and the Sunset Celebration at the Yacht Club on Wednesday, March 3rd.   If anyone could come and volunteer to hand out flyers & sell Trip to Ireland raffle tickets it would be greatly appreciated.   We have already distributed 2000 Festival Program/Ad Book to businesses throughout the area.

     We need you to tell everyone you know about our festival! 

• Continuous Irish Entertainment 
• Irish Food-Corned Beef & Cabbage + Shepherd's Pie + other food choices 
• Many Irish Vendors selling beautiful Irish goods + other Vendors 
• A Free Children's Craft's & Game Area 
• Carnival Rides Available 
• and of Course we must not forget the Beer & Wine!
  

~Irish Blessing

     Fifty five members and five guests attended our last general meeting on January 7th.  Thank you to everyone who brought in sold raffle tickets, membership renewal and ads for the Program/Ad Book.  We realize we have been requesting many things from our members over the past several months and we are forever thankful to all of you. Jennifer Guttieri, a member of our club, was awarded the Richard Mahigan Scholarship.  Jennifer is the 3rd recipient of the annual scholarship. Jennifer has danced at all of our previous Irish festivals and many other club sponsored events. The election of 2010 officers took place.  Our new officers are Hank O'Neill, president; Don Nelson, vice president; Mary O'Neill, secretary; Joe Cobb, treasurer; Sean Burke, 3 year trustee; Bud Martin, 2 year trustee; and Marilyn Stanton, 1 year trustee.

    Our next general meeting will take place Thursday, February 4th at the Elk's Lodge located at 4631 SE 10th Pl. The meeting begins at 7pm. Anne Carney, CCIAC member/volunteer and seasonal Cape Coral resident will present a short program titled "Irish Music, A Personal Journey."  Anne was born into war-time Europe in 1940 on Market Street in Swinford, Co. Mayo, one year after England declared war on Nazi Germany.   While in the United States, George M. Cohan and Harry L. "Bing" Crosby were among the popular Irish American entertainers.  Anne will focus on her personal history to reflect on the influence of Irish music in her life. Dinner is served from 5 to 7pm and the menu includes a wonderful chef's salad along with the usual menu of fried fish, fried shrimp, hamburgers, chicken wings & barbeque ribs. We are asking any members, who are able, to donate a bottle of alcohol for our "Basket of Cheer" raffle to bring it to the February meeting.  We would like to have three baskets for the raffle again this year as we have had in the past.  If you are unable to attend the meeting but would like to make a donation, please call 540-2161 and we will pick it up. We really appreciate your help.

    The plans for our 6th Annual Irish Fest are progressing well.  The planning starts when the previous festival ends.  We must continue to sell tickets for the Trip to Ireland until the raffle drawing takes place at the end of the festival on Sunday, March 7th.   Volunteers will be needed at the Farmer's Market at Club Square on January 30th, February 13th, 20th & 21st.  We will be vendors at the Caloosahatchee Celtic Festival at Centennial Park in downtown Ft Myers from 11am to 6pm. We also participated in the Sunset Celebration at the Yacht Club Beach on the first Wednesday of the month.  We will be participating on February 3rd.  We hand out information about the festival & sell raffle tickets at these events. We have 73 individuals signed up to volunteer at the festival.  We need many more! If you would like to participate for any of these events call Mary at 239-540-2161.

    Many of our members have asked for an opportunity to learn Ceili Dancing.  The Bonner's have made arrangements and everyone is welcome.  It will take place upstairs at Icabod's Restaurant located at 18351 S. Tamiami Trail, Ft Myers beginning at 7pm on Sunday, January 24th, January 31st and February 7th.   There will be Ceili and some old time waltzes.  Come out and get some good exercise the fun way!

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NOVEMBER 2009 NEWSLETTER

We had 41 members present at the November 5^th meeting.  We also had three guests attend.  They were Jim & Marie Cahill and Ken Nelson.  The Cahill’s were the winners of the Trip to Ireland Raffle.  Marie spoke to the group about their enjoyable trip.  Many members learned about the history of the traditional Irish wake which was presented by Mary O’Neill.  Our next meeting is December 3^rd at the Elks Lodge which is located at 4631 SE 10^th Pl. The meeting begins at 7pm. Our guest speaker is Mary Alice Reeseman, a member of the Lee County Pipe & Drum Band. She will be discussing the history of Irish music. Dinner is served from 5 to 7pm and the Elks now offers a wonderful chef’s salad along with the usual menu of fried fish, fried shrimp, hamburgers, chicken wings & barbeque ribs.  Anyone who would like to contribute to the Cape Coral Caring Center please bring a non perishable food item or an unwrapped gift for a child to the December meeting.

Our social at the Yacht Club Pavilion on Sunday, November 15^th was a huge success.  We had over 100 people in attendance.  Our entertainment by Art Arway, bagpiper; Brian Bonner, playing accordion; and Tommy Barr, singing & playing guitar was superb.  Many of our members danced to the wonderful music. The food was great thanks to Don Nelson.  Thank you also to George Miller and Tiny Conaton who did the cooking. Thank you to the many helpers who assisted serving the food.  

We are continuing to sell ads for our Festival Program/Ad Book.  Please consider being a patron.  For $20 your name will be listed in the book.  Also if anyone is in need of raffle tickets please call Bud at 239-542-5622.  The tickets would make wonderful stocking stuffers or gifts for Christmas.

The CCIAC along with the Notre Dame Club and the United Irish of SW FL will be sponsoring a Book Signing by Mary Pat Kelly, Author of Galway Bay, in which covers one family's epic journey capturing both the tragedy and triumph of the Irish-American experience--and echoes the myths and legends of Ireland. Irish music for the event will be provided by Harry Boyle. The event will take place on January 11, 2010 at Icabod's Wicked Food and Drink, formerly Dwyer's Irish Pub, located at 13851 S Tamiami Trail in South Fort Myers.  Please RSVP Icabod's at telephone number 239-267-1611 line 2.   There is no charge to attend the event which begins at 4:30 P.M. and is Happy Hour with a cash bar. There will be complimentary Hors D'oeuvres.

The Irish Tenors will be appearing at Barbara Mann Theatre on Saturday, November 28, 2009.  See info below.  Cahal Dunne, one of our festival performers, will be appearing at Cape Coral High School on Saturday, January 2, 2010 at 7pm.  Tickets cost $15 each and may be purchased at Advermarket Printing located at 4720 SE 15^th Ave, Unit 115; Cape Scooter & More located at 939 Country Club Blvd; or Joe Vieceli at 239-542-5099. This event is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus.

It is with sadness we must notify you that one of our own, Patrick Jones, has died.   Pat was one of our loyal members.  He and his wife, Inge, were always willing to help with any job that needed to be done.   Pat and his quick wit will be sorely missed.  Pat, we hope you are getting all the soda bread you desire in heaven!

May the lilt of lush laughter lighten every load,
May the midst of Irish magic shorten every road.
May you taste the sweetest pleasures
that fortune ever bestowed,
And may all your friends remember
all the favors you are owed.
Irish Blessing