Milwaukee Chapter -- Shamrock Club of Wisconsin

JANUARY 7, 2010 MEETING AND CHILI COOKOFF
The next general meeting will be Thursday, January 7, 2010 at the ICHC at 7 pm. We will have a chili cookoff -- All entries are welcome. Contact Veronica Ceszynski at irishv@ameritech.net or call 414-228-8621 for more information.
Also, meet the past president's of the Shamrock Club. 50 Years of history will be on display.
The meeting is free and open to the public.

Milwaukee Chapter of the
Shamrock Club of Wisconsin

The Milwaukee Chapter meets the first Thursday of each month at the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center, 2133 West Wisconsin Avenue.

Milwaukee Activities Include:

MARCH ST. PATRICK'S DAY EVENTS:

Annual Birthday Party, ICHC; 7 pm
Gaelic Mass at St. Patrick's Parish, 7th and Washington on March 13, 2010
Parade at Noon, Wisconsin Avenue on March 13, 2010
Post Parade party, 1 p.m. at the ICHC on March 13, 2010

OTHER YEARLY EVENTS

Monthly meeting, 1st Thurdays of the month, 7:00 p.m., ICHC

Our annual Easter Rising Mass on April 4, 2010 at the ICHC at 10 am.

Visit us at Irish Fest in the Sales and Cultural Areas in August

See us at Milwaukee's Holiday Folk Fair in the Cultural, Food, and Retail areas each November.

Join us for our annual picnic in August.

Join us for our Halfway to St. Patrick's Day Mass in mid-September

Christmas Party and Pot Luck Dinner the first Thursday in December.

Emerald Reflections, our monthly newsletter

Shamrock Club Color Guard Pipes and Drums

Join The SHAMROCK CLUB

Would you like to join the Shamrock Club? Download an Membership application

application form here. We would love to have you join our celebration of Irish life.

Milwaukee Board of Directors:

The 2009-2010 board of directors for the Milwaukee chapter are as follows: Julie Smith, Brian Witt, Past President; Sandy Quinlan, Vice President; John Fisher, treasurer; Malkin Wallace, secretary; Veronica Cesczynski, sergeant at arms; Denis Donohoe, membership chair; Tom McAleese, parliamentarian; and trustees: Kathy Donovan, Mary Culver and Josh Walton. Their terms are from July 1 2009 until June 30, 2010.

Bylaws:

Bylaws for the Shamrock Club of Wisconsin are available by clicking here.

WHY ARE WE THE SHAMROCK CLUB?

The shamrock is a three leafed plant used by St. Patrick to explain the Trinity. It has been found by Irish botanists to be a clover, oxalis, or any other trefoil. We chose the shamrock because it best symbolized the work of St. Patrick, and as a emblem of being Irish. Irish patriots wore sprigs of the plants in their hats during the 1798 Rebellion. It has been a sign that people are united as Irishmen and Irishwomen, in a non-sectarian sense, beginning in the 1600s. Remember, too, a shamrock only has three leaves. The lucky four leaf clover is not a shamrock, nor is it s a sign of being Irish.

WHY IS IT THE GREEN SEASON?

The Shamrock Club of Wisconsin coined the phrase the "Green Season" in 1989, at the suggestion of Shamrock Club member, Dublin native, and UW Milwaukee lecturer and historian John Gleeson. Mr. Gleeson said that St Patrick's Day had grown from just a one day celebration to over a month. And in the following years, it has only grown larger and longer. Now, it runs from February to the beginning of April. Long live the Green Season.

SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS

We awarded a number of $500 scholarships for college level students who qualified. The 2009 winners are: Marisa Rondinelli of Whitefish Bay; Corinne Conley of Cary, IL; Kathleen Burns of Milwaukee; and Stacy Cannon of Sheboygan. Congratulations to these women. In addition, the Shamrock Club and the AOH Milwaukee chapter awarded a $500 scholarship to Sean Cavanaugh, of Milwaukee.

There were also four Ted Nestor Druming and Piping Scholarships awarded. They went to Kylie Mervin, Noel Tylla, Dave Culver and Matt Waters. The Nestor Scholarships are used at the annual Midwest Piping and Druming School at St John's Northwestern Academy in Delafield.

Each year the Shamrock Club of Wisconsin's Milwaukee chapter has a raffle to raise funds for its Scholarship Raffle. We have given away over $25,000 since 1972. The scholarships are for Irish studies related programs, and are open to all college level students. We also have a scholarship for pipers and drummers to attend the yearly Piping and Drumming School in Milwaukee, (the Ted Nestor Scholarship, open only to Shamrock Club members). Many students have used the money to study in Glencolmcille, County Donegal. Others have attended school at Trinity College, or many of the UC Colleges or the NUI schools in Ireland. In additon, students have used the money to attended the annual Irish language immersion weekends in Milwaukee or Madison, WI.

The Shamrock Club also administers the Milwaukee Chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians scholarship.

For a list of Scholarship Winners, click Scholarship Winners. For a copy of the Scholarship application, please clickSC Scholarship application.

SHAMROCK CLUB 2009 HONOREES ANNOUNCED

The Shamrock Club is proud to announce our 2009 Irish honorees. They are Chuck Ward, Irishman of the Year; Kathy Donovan, Irish Rose; and Bill Sherry, Parade Marshal. Congratulations to all three. Selection is done on the basis of service to the Shamrock Club, the Irish community in Milwaukee and Wisconsin, and service to the community. All three embody those qualities.