Irish Asssociation of Manitoba

If you were born in Newfoundland or if you know of someone that was born on “The Rock”, give me a call at 895-0249. I want to give our IAM members and their friends a taste of Newfoundland with some traditional food and drink, some good ole entertainment, some stories of the “Newfoundland Way” and what “Mummering” is all about, etc.  But I need help from my fellow Newf’s. Let’s get together, chat, have a “mug up” and plan this “Newfie Night”. Let’s show everyone what you and I are and always will be so very proud of, our “Home Down by The Sea”. And remember, the only reason all those Newfie jokes are so simple is so the rest of the world can understand them. – Wilma O’Brien

The Board of Trustees Damien Bessette Scholarship Fund is pleased to announce the following scholarship award recipients for the 2008-09 academic year.

Katie Thalman – Student in Education at the University of Winnipeg. Daughter of Marilyn & Jim Thalman. Julia Augustus – Student in University 1 at the University of Manitoba. Daughter of Wilma & Shannon O’Brien. Clare Tonner – Student in Undergraduate Studies at the University of Winnipeg. Daughter of Valerie Tonner. Ashleen Scott – Student in Arts at the University of Manitoba. Granddaughter of Anne & Will Scott

This year’s “HalloScream Party” that was held on the 1st of November was a huge success. The club was eerily decorated with tons of spooky gadgets and creatures. There was even a Skeleton named “Shalom” sitting on the club’s organ, where he stayed all night, just steadily and spookily watching everyone. He told me his job for the night was the “Gate Keeper”. Shalom’s brother Mr. Bones was sitting directly across the club from him playing solitaire where he also seemed to stay all night without moving, not bothering anyone, just watching…..weeeird! Mr. Bones was joined early in the evening by our Tarot Card reader, Linda Kalturnyk where she gave some amazing readings to many of the creatures of the night.

As the night started, everything was in place and the mood was set. Candles were arranged all over the club setting the “Halloween” ambience, lights were dimmed, spooky fog was fl owing, the awesome “Spider Juice” was awaiting victim #1, music was playing and the place was alive in anticipation for the creatures to arrive. Our host and hostess for the night were the freakiest creatures I have ever seen – I avoided them to be honest with you. The host “The Grim Reaper” and the hostess “Freaky Spider Woman” did a fantastic job. Freaky Spider Woman looked like a seductive weird creepy creature including vampirish white eyes, which scared the bejeezus out of me. The Reaper’s deep red devilish eyes seemed to follow me where ever I went, he looked like he wanted me badly – creeeepy!

Our 1st guest was Mr. Mario, our absolutely fantastic D.J. from Let’s Dance Music Service came in costume as Count Dracula – and I may add he looked really hungry for a victim too. We had several pumpkins show up and get this, we even had the Jolly Green Giant arrive, whom won best costume – he said he wasn’t in costume, that he really was the “Jolly Green Giant” not John Derrick……alrightttty than! Mr. Hugh Hefner and one of his gorgeous Play boy bunnies named Miss Clare came for a cocktail and ended up staying for the night. At around 8, Zorro showed up with his beautiful mistress and a bunch of his crazy wild friends. I really thought he would have brought his manservant Bernardo as well for all the gorgeous Pirate Winches to drool over, but I guess Bernardo was home doing chores – I hear Zorro is a mean son of…..!

The flow of appearing creatures continued. Annie Hall, who was just a pleasure to talk to, came for a drink’s and a few dances. Also, we can’t forget the Bagpipe lady who was an absolute riot. You should hear her play those
Pipes. Actually, she is performing at the club next month. We also had a young lady there who refused to grow up. She was sitting on her 60 year old mother’s back the whole night, even while her mom was dancing – just ridiculous. This contraption took the 2nd best costume. And get this; we also had Mr. and Mrs. Medevil show up in their gorgeous costumes. It was fantastic. They were soooo “regal”. Well, they were until Mr. Medevil started playing the men’s banana game….!

The Men’s Banana Game you ask…. what is the Men’s Banana game??? Well, you will have to come to the club to see the pictures for a true explanation and visualization. All I can say is the men who partook, and that was just about every man there, had to use their given banana’s to move a egg across the finish line using only their hips…their banana’s were tied to a string which was than tied around their waste hanging about 3 inches mfrom their egg on the floor. The winner was a new comer to the club named Curtis. Curtis is a young lad whose gorgeous blond hair fell down to his navel – costume or not is the question? His youth out performed all of the elders of the night.

The Women’s Banana game was even wilder……picture this if you will. All the men were in a circle on the dance fl oor with their backs to each other. They were told by Mr. Reaper to put their given bananas in their zippers in which ever position they choose – and trust me, there were some strange positions. The women, when the music started would dance around the men in a circle and when the music stopped, they had to grab the nearest man’s banana. If you didn’t get a banana, you were “bananaless” which caused you to be eliminated. The winner, Maggie Katzeley, one of Zorro’s friends, was insistent on having the last banana.

To end the night, the Grim Reaper and Freaky Spider Woman did the silent auction draws, the door prize draw and the pumpkin/costume winner announcement. There were some amazing prizes to be had in the silent auction which included a couple of baked baskets that were generously donated by some of our members and neatly organized by our lovely Mary MacMartin. The door prize, which consisted of a Pumpkin cake donated by Margaret Menzies, some fresh baked soda bread and an Electronic Freedom Technique session generously donated by Linda Kalturnyk, was won by Dale Laird, whom I might add won the best pumpkin out of about 20 pumpkins.

The night ended around 1pm with everyone partied out………..a night to remember, yes indeed. Next year will be even better. – Wilma O’Brien

Shannon O'Brien, President IAM

Dear My Fellow Members, This very special time of year inspires us to remember and recognize those things we should all be thankful for. The Irish Association of Manitoba, like many of you, also has many reasons to be thankful this time of year. We celebrate our 37th year in 2009, a testament to the hard work, dedication and inspiration of our founders and members. We enjoy a beautiful building and facilities at 654 Erin Street. We are blessed by the support, encouragement, and unconditional loyalty of the many different cultural groups that call the IAM home. Each of these groups, whether the Tara Players, the Irish Myst Choir, The Winnipeg Celtic Pipe Band, Comhaltas Winnipeg, or any of the others, have each shown their strengths and dedication to the IAM over the years. But the Irish Association of Manitoba is more than just the sum of our parts – it is our combined strength as an organization that makes me the most proud.

We should all be thankful this year for the Irish Association of Manitoba. We should be thankful that we live in a country where we can continue to celebrate our culture and our heritage. We should be thankful for having the means to provide. We should be thankful for friends and family. On behalf of the Irish Association of Manitoba and the Board if Directors, I want to wish all our members and cultural groups a very safe and happy holiday season, and a wonderful New Year. We hope to see you at one of the many events planned at the Irish Association over the holidays.

Just a quick “Thank You” to everyone who have so generously given monetary donations to the Irish Association.Often, for many different reasons, a simple “thank you” never gets said. Just think, every time we remember to say “thank you”, we experience nothing less than heaven on earth.  It warms my heart to know that several of our senior members donated their membership fees to the club just because they wanted too, to help the club. It brings a tear to my eye when I receive a Tara Player’s Season renewal in the mail and included is an extra $50 donation, with comments like “We want to give a little back”. In our busy lives, we don’t often express our thanks and appreciation like we should. So, to all you good Samaritans our there, thank you dearly. If you believe in Karma, one day, you will be rewarded. And remember, the smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.Have a wonderful Christmas Everyone. And remember to say “Thank You”