Saratoga Irish

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

I2K, A Parking Lot of Fun




The parking lots at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds are not a paved lot like you would see at the mall or at an office building. The fields that are used for parking are anything but level. Since the festival moved from the Altamont Fairgrounds to Ballston Spa the Saratoga Hibernians have manned the lots. “We’re the first faces the people see when they get to the festival” says Division president Chris Bergman whose 30 member volunteer force moved hundreds of cars in and out over the two days. “We try to greet everyone with a smile” continued Bergman explaining his workers view on their job. “If everyone is happy and has a good time, the festival will be successful and we will be successful”. Although the festival is not associated with the Hibernians, many members are involved in the running of the event. The parking at the festival has become one of the Saratoga AOH’s biggest fundraising events of the year. The Saratoga AOH has used the profits made from events like this to donate to various charities over the past ten years. 

Sunday, September 18, 2011

I2K, A Family Affair









2011 was the 15th annual Irish 2000 Music and Arts Festival. What started as the brainchild of a group of friends has become one of this countries biggest two day Irish Festivals. The group that came up with the idea was made up mostly of two families, the McSweeneys and the Nelligans, “If we were not related to each other it was something really close” says Festival Vice President Maura McSweeney-Tearno. McSweeney-Tearno along with her sister Sheila, brother Tim, Mother Pat teamed up with Matt and Brian Nelligan and their father to form the core of the group. Family has always been a focal point of the festival.”Family is the always at the heart of the Irish people” according to Festival President Matt Nelligan,  “it is the center of all Irish life”.  The Festival always caters to familys on Saturdays, this year featuring magicians, a bird of prey exhibit, pony rides and a Seanachai (storyteller). “If you don’t have storytelling” said Author and local Seanchai Bairbre McCarthy , “you’re missing out on an important part of the Celtic culture”.  It’s not just in the planning and running of the festival that family stands out. Tucked inbetween the carts and trailers overflowing with carnival food was the Capital District Irish American Assocition’s tent, where you could get family style Corned beef and Irish, soda bread, “The best corned beef this side of Dublin” boasted CDIAA President Pat Hale, “the cows are lining up at the slaughter house just to be a part of it” Many of the bands are made up of family members including The Screaming Orphans (Four Sisters) and Celtic Cross (Two brothers and a sister). “When our parents came to this country they had no one else but their families” Kathleen Fee of Celtic Cross says, “We formed a band with my brothers and they are my best friends”.  The Irish community embraces the family and opens themselves to each other for love and support. When someone dies they whole community is shaken. When founding member Pat McSweeney passed away last year after a long illness, the festival was missing something. This year they got it back by naming the pub stage where the local bands perform, The Patrica McSweeney Memorial Pub Stage.  “Pat was a great friend and fan” said Frank Jaklitsch, “She pushed me into performing when I first moved to the area” Jaklitsch, who has played in all 15 festivals opened his set by being introduced by the McSweeneys and singing Bruce Springsteen’s No Surrender, a song the he played for Pat at her last birthday. Tom Flynn of the Brothers Flynn called it “an Honor and a privilege” to perform on the memorial stage. Kevin MacKrell also a 15 time festival entertainer,  played on two different stages, one as a solo act and on the traditional stage with the band, Quackser Fortune has a cousin in the Bronx, summed it up by saying, “It’s good to have her back with us”.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Irish 2000 Music and Arts Festival



So it's time for Irish 2000 Music and Arts Festival again. This will be my fourth Irish Festival of the summer, and yes it's still the summer. Friday night September 16, 2011 and all day and into the night on Saturday September 17, 2011, the Saratoga County Fairgrounds will be green with Irish. The Summer Festival season started on Memorial Day weekend in East Durham. The high lite of the Festival was the return of The Whole Shebang. 







As you can tell from the video the crowd loved the show. There are about three things that make for a good Irish Festival and no, drinking is not one of them, it's all three. No, really, the things that make a Festival are good music, good friends and a good selection of food and venders. The East Durham Festival had all three. Besides the Whole Shebang they had Celtic Cross, Shilelagh Law, Black 47 and East Durham favorites, The Andy Cooney Band and the Kitty Kelly Band. The friends that were there were numerous but I must point out that Chris and Amy, Sheila, Trish, Michele, Tom, the immortal Billy Flynn and my text partner Maura all played a part in making East Durham a great Festival.
At the end of July I headed out to Herkimer for the Great American Irish Festival. I went out on Friday night with the Fighting 86's. I came home late Friday night and went to my 35 high school reunion on Saturday afternoon before heading back out to Herkimer. The bands at the Great American included, 


 

The High Kings, Barleyjuice, Seven Nations and Hair of the Dog and Enter the Haggis. The usual group of Festival goers made the trip as well as NYS AOH President Mike McNabb and family. This past weekend I was in Syracuse for the Syracuse Irish Festival. This is set up a bit different. Instead of at a fairgrounds they take over downtown Syracuse and turn the Syracuse Orange to green. 



The Fighting 86's showed that they were too large to play the traditional stage as they packed the street with fans, dancing and singing along. The other bands were Goitse, The Glengarry Bhoys, The Elders and The Causeway Giants. I spent time with some Syracuse Hibernian Brothers and again a good time was had by all. Now we are halfway to St. Patrick's Day and the Festival is in our own back yard. I2K opens at the Saratoga County Fairgrounds Friday night with a line up of, Seven Nations, Gaelic Storm and Enter the Haggis. On Saturday the great music continues with, Shilelagh Law, Celtic Cross, Screaming Orphans and Black 47. Check out the website for a complete listing at http://irish2000fest.com/ One change this year. In the past they have had a "pub" stage where the local bands play. This year they have renamed it, The Patricia McSweeney Memorial  Pub Stage. Pat was a founding member and a force behind the success of the Irish 2000 Festival. The Festival sometimes doesn't feel the same without Pat but usually at some point you know that she is there.



So I am looking forward to this weekend and I hope you can come out and join in the fun,whether it's your fifth Irish Festival of the year or your first, you are going to have a good time.









Wednesday, September 07, 2011

September 11




     My mother is 92 years old, she is a part of, what Tom Brokaw calls "the Greatest Generation".  My mother sometimes has trouble remembering things, but what she still recalls to this day is where she was when she heard the news of Pearl Harbor. On September 11, 2001 I was at work at the Post Office. We had just finished our weekly safety talk and were headed into the break room. On all the TV's the images of the World Trade Center shone and the reporters were telling of an airplane that had hit the midtown Manhattan tower. Then we saw in horror the second plane hit. We all knew at this instant that this was no accident. As my co workers and I looked on, the reports that the planes were hijacked prior to the crashes confirm our thoughts that we are under attack. Around twenty minutes to ten a report tells of a fire at the Pentagon. At 9:59 am the south tower of the world trade center collapses. Thirty minutes later, the north tower crashes too. The supervisors at the Post Office repeatedly told us to go back to work but we payed them no heed and continued to watch the televisions, when they were able to get us out of the break room and back to our work areas we never started our machines we all tried to find news on the radio and gathered in small groups. The information we gathered was all over the map. No one knew exactly what was going on and the news stations would give one story and then a few minutes later change the story. Then the fire alarm rang, we evacuated the building. Someone had called in a bomb scare to the Post Office. After an hour in the parking lot, they sent us home.
The difference between my mother's generation and mine is that, they had to wait hours to hear the radio reports of the attack while we watched it as it happened. I don't remember hearing the news of the Kennedy assassination, I do remember watching the funeral on TV. I will never forget September 11.
     As the days passed and the horrible images continued to be shown on TV, my thoughts were , thank God I didn't know anyone in the towers. Yes, this happened to Americans, yes they were only 150 miles away, but it wasn't hitting home........yet. My mother and father didn't know anyone at Pearl Harbor but the coming years hit home for them. Many of their classmates from high school died in the war. Two of my mother's brothers served in the Pacific, my parents made the sacrifices at home to support the war. A week after the attacks on September 11, Martin Kelly, then the New York State AOH President, sent out an e-mail letting his friends know that he was alright. I had forgotten that he worked in the towers. What I didn't know was that his daughter and son-in-law did also. All three escaped before the collapse. When the names of the Fire Fighters and Police Officers that died in the attack was released, I found out that 18 of my Hibernian brothers were on that list. This was becoming a ripple effect. When you think that it didn't effect you personally, all of a sudden you find out it did. The video I chose for this post is my friend Mike Roche singing "When New York was Irish". Mike is not a professional musician, he is a good Irishman that will step up and sing a song or two when asked, and he does a fine job on this old tune. At the end of the song, Mike lifts his glass and says, as he always does with this song, "to Father Mike". Ten years after the attack and every time Mike sings that song, it's in honor of the memory of his good friend Father Mike Judge, FDNY Chaplin, who gave his life that day. The ripple effect. Even if you still think that the attacks didn't effect you, stand back and take a look around you, see the people you know who knew someone that died that day, take a look around you and see the people you know who have someone fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan as a result of 9/11.  We were all affected and we will never forget. 343, 23, 37.