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| CITY OF VANCOUVER MAYOR Larry Campbell holds a copy of The Celtic Connection as he watches the parade |
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| Volunteers at the Celtic Connection booth at the CelticFest Village Market are (L-R) Front row: Joan Murray of the Tartan Pride Highland Dance Team and Peggy Smith of the Gaelic Society. Back row: Representing Stage Eireann are Timothy Kevin O'Keefe, president of Stage Eireann, and Bernie Percy a long-time member of Stage Eireann. |
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| STANDING BESIDE THEIR COMPLETED thatched cottage are (L-R) Back row: Tom Butler (Mayo), George McDonald (Dublin), Tom O’Flynn (Limerick). Front row Tom Scanlon (Mayo) and Ivan Douglas (Port Stewart, N. Ireland). The cottage was a float in the parade. |
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| ST. PAT’S DAY at the Wolf & Hound Pub. Seated on the left is Ann Carr, the 2004 Irish Woman of the Year, and Justin McGregor. Standing on the table is Las Vegas Showgirl, server Hannah O’Connell from Cork. Seated on the right side is Bruce Armstrong (former Guinness Rep) and John Dardis visiting from Dublin. Standing in the background is Jacquie Metzler, owner of the popular Wolf and Hound Pub. |
A Reflection on Another Year of St. Patrick's Celebrations
By CATHOLINE BUTLER
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| THE MORRIS DANCERS were highly entertaining and a huge attraction at the parade. |
VANCOUVER - Every year around this time, anyone who has been involved with organizing St. Patrick's community celebrations, managing Irish pubs or working at events, is generally exhausted. After expending all that energy and the lack of sleep leading up to March 17, there is a letdown that seems to last until about mid-April. But don't get me wrong, ask any of them if they would change a thing and the answer would be no, because they had a fabulous time and can't wait to do it all over again next year.
Here at The Celtic Connection, we were also busy covering the many events that took place to celebrate the feast of the patron saint of Ireland. On March 13, the St. Patrick's Day parade was bigger and better than last year. It is estimated that about 40,000 people turned out on an absolutely gloriously sunny day for the second annual parade in downtown Vancouver.
Along the parade route we handed out hundreds of the March issue of The Celtic Connection, and we thank the many volunteers who helped distribute the paper. We also had a booth at the CelticFest Celtic Village Market on March 12 and 13, which we shared with the Scottish Cultural Centre, Stage Eireann and the Celtic Heritage Society. This was a wonderful opportunity to let people know about the various events taking place throughout the year in the Celtic communities.
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| ACTOR FRANK TALBOT enjoyed the applause of a full house after his incredible two and a half hour one man show entitled A Night in November. |
On March 12, at the Tom Lee Music Hall on Granville Street, The Celtic Connection co-sponsored the play A Night In November along with CeltiFest. Dublin-born actor Frank Talbot performed an absolutely amazing and rivetting two and a half hour one-man show to a packed and attentive audience.
On March 15, we attended a presentation called "Lambing Season in Ireland" at the Tom Lee Music Hall, which was also very well attended. Veterinarian Dag Goering and Maria Coffey, author of the book A Lambing Season in Ireland, presented an engaging documentary of their exploits while they lived in the wildly rugged area of Kerry in Ireland.
Dag worked as a veterinarian and Maria filmed this spectacularly beautiful part of Ireland. We watched Dag working under very adverse conditions as he tried to help animals in distress and we were introduced to some of the hilarious characters they met along the way. It was a most enjoyable evening.
On March 16, The National Film Board screened the documentary When Hockey Came To Belfast at the Pacific Cinematheque Theatre. Director, Linda Conway (whose parents hail from Belfast) attended along with Canucks head coach Marc Crawford. A large crowd turned out to see the documentary on Canadian ice hockey in Northern Ireland. The story centres around Paul and Andrew, two young Belfast hockey players, one Catholic and one Protestant and how hockey is having a positive effect on their lives.
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| TWO MEMBERS of the fabulous Killarney Showband at the Blarney Stone on St. Patrick's Day. (L-R) Michael Cronin and John Lynch. |
It was a busy day on March 17, starting with an early mass to celebrate the feast of Ireland's patron saint, then on to an Irish breakfast at Jacquie Metzler's well-known establishment on West Broadway, the Wolf & Hound Irish Pub. The next stop was Dentry's Irish Grill on West Tenth Avenue. Then it was over to the Elephant and Castle in Richmond, and as the day progressed each establishment was getting progressively busier and busier. We dropped in to the Penny Lane Pub on 41st and Main Street, where we met up with many well-known personalities in the community.
Next stop was the famous Blarney Stone in Gastown where the great Irish group Killarney was holding sway. People were almost hanging from the rafters and the dance floor was full in anticipation before the group even struck a chord. It has been a tradition at the Blarney Stone that the afternoon on every St. Patrick's Day has always been a time for families and they were all there from babes in arms right up to people in their seventies and eighties, and everyone was in a mood to celebrate. Next was the Irish Heather Bistro, also in Gastown, which was also filling up fast.
In the evening, of course there were line-ups everywhere, but we managed to get into Smiley O'Neal's on West Pender where Skystone, the well-known local group were belting out all the well-known Irish ballads to a shoulder-to-shoulder packed room and they were loving it!
Last stop was the Commodore Ballroom on Granville Street where there were several roped-off line-ups waiting to get in to the packed ballroom. This was the finale CelticFest event and it was a showcase of Celtic entertainment, starting with the Irish Pipes and Drums, the Scoil Rince De Danaan Dancers, the Ecclestons, Three Row Barley, and the Whiskey Dicks.
All the St. Patrick's parade and CelticFest organizers were finally able to relax after a strenuous week of organizing, co-ordinating and making sure that everything worked the way it was supposed to. Congratulations for a job well done to Warren Purchase, Festival Director, Rita Albano, CelticFest Executive Producer and Steve McVittie, Parade Marshal, and of course all the many volunteers who worked tirelessly throughout CelticFest to help ensure its success. See you next year!
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