Letter From Our President - Mick Gleason
My Fellow Shamrockers:
As we welcome in the new decade, let me warmly wish you all Ath bhliain faoi mhaise. This, of course, is ‘Happy New Year’ in the mother tongue … if only I could provide you a decent pronunciation! As we leave 2012 behind, we do so with the lingering warm glow of a Shamrock Club Christmas Party that was nothing short of brilliant. Again, I’m sure you all join me in profusely thanking Lucille Warpinski, Helen Desotell and Jean Barrett-Terry for this unforgettable celebration in honor of Our Savior’s birth as well as a smashing send-off to the first decade of the new millennium. I had read a description of what a typical Christmas might be in Ireland and there was a reference there to keeping the doors unlocked and food on the table in case a traveler or priest should need to come in from the night. I’d have to assume our dear Father McElroy must’ve found a candle in a window as he never made it to the party. You were missed, Father.
And so now we move on to 2010. It pleased me no end to notice we had a few new members at our party and I hope that is only the beginning for us. The holidays presented a little bump in the road for the momentum of our Membership and Event Committees but I can assure you that they’ve worked diligently and enthusiastically so far in identifying opportunities for our Club. As we move in to this new year it is my belief that they will continue the work they have so ably started. The next order of business would be to begin prioritization of these opportunities in the hope that we can identify and execute a few of the more promising ones yet this year. I have no doubt this will happen. At the risk of sounding like a broken record I would again remind and implore each of you to take a few moments of your time to try and recruit one new member in this Club year. It would be nothing short of glorious to find that we don’t have enough chairs in our meeting room to facilitate all our members!
We will enjoy the company of the Green Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at our January meeting and I understand there will be some animal guests. We will receive a wonderful presentation from Mr. Steve Seehawer of Etched In Time Video Productions in February. I had the opportunity to view some of the work that Steve does and believe there are many of you that might want to avail yourselves of his services once you’ve seen his presentation. In my discussions with Steve we explored the possibility of creating a short video that could be used to promote the Club at future events. We’re envisioning a series of short vignettes with our members recalling memories of the Irish influence in their lives. Last, but certainly not least, in a conversation during the Christmas Party, Sister Annice McClure was gracious enough to volunteer to fill the role of Vice President for the rest of this year and focus on arranging our programs for the April and May meetings. I thank you Sister and hope only that you might consider staying on for next year as well.
So, we look forward to growth and increased community exposure as we move in to the new decade. I’ve got to tell you I’m truly excited at this prospect. We’ll move forward with our participation in the first annual dying of the Fox River green in conjunction with St. Patrick’s Day, as well as to another of the “banner” events of our Club year being the annual Mass and Breakfast for the feast of our revered Saint. As this has historically been a very well attended event by members and many guests, we will be making a very proactive recruiting pitch in conjunction with this event. St. Patrick is very symbolic of the influence of the Irish as it is said he was instrumental in building the Church in Ireland as well as in bringing forth a renewal of the Faith on the continent. When we gather, we do so to commemorate and promote our rich heritage and contribution within our community and rightly so.
“Dear Erin, how sweetly thy green bosom rises! An emerald set in the ring of the sea. Each blade of thy meadows my faithful heart prizes, Thou queen of the west, the world's cushla ma chree.” – John Philpot Curran -Irish Lawyer, Orator and Statesman, (1750-1817)
Mick Gleason
Club President
As we welcome in the new decade, let me warmly wish you all Ath bhliain faoi mhaise. This, of course, is ‘Happy New Year’ in the mother tongue … if only I could provide you a decent pronunciation! As we leave 2012 behind, we do so with the lingering warm glow of a Shamrock Club Christmas Party that was nothing short of brilliant. Again, I’m sure you all join me in profusely thanking Lucille Warpinski, Helen Desotell and Jean Barrett-Terry for this unforgettable celebration in honor of Our Savior’s birth as well as a smashing send-off to the first decade of the new millennium. I had read a description of what a typical Christmas might be in Ireland and there was a reference there to keeping the doors unlocked and food on the table in case a traveler or priest should need to come in from the night. I’d have to assume our dear Father McElroy must’ve found a candle in a window as he never made it to the party. You were missed, Father.
And so now we move on to 2010. It pleased me no end to notice we had a few new members at our party and I hope that is only the beginning for us. The holidays presented a little bump in the road for the momentum of our Membership and Event Committees but I can assure you that they’ve worked diligently and enthusiastically so far in identifying opportunities for our Club. As we move in to this new year it is my belief that they will continue the work they have so ably started. The next order of business would be to begin prioritization of these opportunities in the hope that we can identify and execute a few of the more promising ones yet this year. I have no doubt this will happen. At the risk of sounding like a broken record I would again remind and implore each of you to take a few moments of your time to try and recruit one new member in this Club year. It would be nothing short of glorious to find that we don’t have enough chairs in our meeting room to facilitate all our members!
We will enjoy the company of the Green Bay Wildlife Sanctuary at our January meeting and I understand there will be some animal guests. We will receive a wonderful presentation from Mr. Steve Seehawer of Etched In Time Video Productions in February. I had the opportunity to view some of the work that Steve does and believe there are many of you that might want to avail yourselves of his services once you’ve seen his presentation. In my discussions with Steve we explored the possibility of creating a short video that could be used to promote the Club at future events. We’re envisioning a series of short vignettes with our members recalling memories of the Irish influence in their lives. Last, but certainly not least, in a conversation during the Christmas Party, Sister Annice McClure was gracious enough to volunteer to fill the role of Vice President for the rest of this year and focus on arranging our programs for the April and May meetings. I thank you Sister and hope only that you might consider staying on for next year as well.
So, we look forward to growth and increased community exposure as we move in to the new decade. I’ve got to tell you I’m truly excited at this prospect. We’ll move forward with our participation in the first annual dying of the Fox River green in conjunction with St. Patrick’s Day, as well as to another of the “banner” events of our Club year being the annual Mass and Breakfast for the feast of our revered Saint. As this has historically been a very well attended event by members and many guests, we will be making a very proactive recruiting pitch in conjunction with this event. St. Patrick is very symbolic of the influence of the Irish as it is said he was instrumental in building the Church in Ireland as well as in bringing forth a renewal of the Faith on the continent. When we gather, we do so to commemorate and promote our rich heritage and contribution within our community and rightly so.
“Dear Erin, how sweetly thy green bosom rises! An emerald set in the ring of the sea. Each blade of thy meadows my faithful heart prizes, Thou queen of the west, the world's cushla ma chree.” – John Philpot Curran -Irish Lawyer, Orator and Statesman, (1750-1817)
Mick Gleason
Club President