PO Box 765, Rapid City SD 57709 BlackHillsCelticEvents.org Info@BlackHillsCelticEvents.org Volume 9 Issue 12 December 2007 Serving the Celtic Communities of: Wales, Isle of Man, Cornwall (England), Galicia (Spain), Brittany (France), Scotland and Ireland You may contribute news and photos by email to Info@BlackHillsCelticEvents.org It’s a POTLUCK! DIRECTIONS to Knight’s house: 3364 Kerry Dr . Turn south off Jackson Blvd onto Sheridan Lake Rd., go about 6 miles, turn left onto Dunsmore Rd., take the first right onto Kerry Dr. to the 3rd house on the left (log house), or take Hwy 16 south to Moon Meadows Rd and turn right for approximately 3 miles to Dunsmore Rd. Turn left onto Dunsmore Rd and take the first road to the right which is Kerry Dr. and look for the 3rd house on the left. There will be signs posted as you near our house. Feel free to call us when and if you get lost at 343-2884 or 390-6276 . Dec 13 5:30 p.m. Board Meeting Dec 13 6:30 p.m. General membership Meeting & Christmas Party Potluck with the Celts of America, at Sally & Bill Knight’s house Dec 31 Immediately after the Symphony performance – approx 10:00 p.m. Black Hills Symphony’s Celtic New Years @ Civic Center Jan 17 6:00 p.m. Board Meeting Jan 17 7:00 p.m. General membership meeting: PROGRAM: TBA Jan 26 TBA Robert Burns Dinner Feb 21 6:00 p.m. Board Meeting Feb 21 7:00 p.m. General membership meeting: PROGRAM: TBA Another year has come and gone and as your president for this past year I look to relinquishing my reign with both some relief and wishfulness. You probably expected me to say relief and sadness, not at all, in fact I only say relief to the fact of the many little extra items or events or details one has to or should address as president and I refer to wishfulness as only I wished I could have or should have done more for SIS. We had a great year with our many events, dinners, ceili’s and of course the festival. The one area I feel I should have addressed more strongly is membership participation other than the normal “Magnificent 7”…. Like any organization there are those chosen few… that are the core of the group who make things happen and the fringe of this core who will gladly assist when requested and then there are the remaining who choose just to attend whatever event we may have. All of these members have their place in our group and help to make SIS what is. I was constantly trying to think of ways to make our meetings and events more fun and interesting and not so much routine so as to attract those less frequently attending members. In doing so I was asking even more from our core members not realizing there is only so much they could do. After a while burnout becomes a real concern and can affect the overall mood and direction of the membership. This is why I so strongly encourage in this election for those who have not previously been interested in becoming a board member or officer to do so, to bring forward new fresh interesting thoughts and ideas after all tradition doesn’t necessarily mean repetition. It has been a fine year of good friends; good times and now I look forward to another year of good times and good friends with new ideas and new approaches to keep our Celtic community alive and well. December promises to be another fun filled month with our board/general business meeting on the 13th and of course the Hogmanay on the 31st at the Civic Center, “Hope to See You There”!! Merry Christmas/Happy Hogmanay Bill Knight President/SIS The Scottish & Irish Society is hosting a light meal immediately after the Symphony performance on December 31st as a fund raiser. It will be much like we did two years ago. We’ll be serving Cock-A-Leekie soup, bread, and scones/shortbreads. We’ll be asking for some assistance for this event. Helen Magnusson has graciously agreed to try to get the bread donations lined up. Holly Lemay is coordinating a Ceili after the symphony & light meal. Our friends, the Molly Bennett School of Dance will be back, to not only dance, but to teach us! Two years ago the stage was FULL of dancers learning new steps. Hope to see you there! Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice. (Thanks Siaryn for sharing this tidbit!) John Duggan has graciously agreed to take over as Newsletter editor in January. If you aren’t sure what he looks like, he looks nearly EXACTLY like the gentleman to the left (except no glasses and generally NO tie, but has those same ‘kissable lips’ – just ask Siaryn!). I am THRILLED with his willingness to take over this task and encourage everybody to send him items to include in our newsletter. Submissions can be sent to info@BlackHillsCelticEvents.org. Your Input Needed This newsletter would be far more interesting with your input: news, events, culture, history, photos, new Celtic businesses, anything. Submit your articles in MS Word doc and photos in jpg format. E-mail to info@BlackHillsCelticEvents.org Nila Boone shared this information about a couple of books she’s read recently: “ I just finished reading two interesting books that I thought others might like to read. They are A Pocket History of Gaelic Culture by Alan Titley and How The Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill.    Cahill's book is on CD and in large print at the Rapid City Public Library. Titley's book is not owned by any South Dakota library.”       One additional advantage to holding our meetings in the Celtic Connection is that we will be storing our Library there as well. That way we can easily display our varied books, CD’s and videos for our membership to check out! Members are welcome to check out these materials. We’ve got tattoos, history books, novels, Celtic folktales. If anyone wants to give a ‘review’ on anything from the collection for the newsletter, just let John Duggan know and he’ll give you some ‘ink’ space! As my last installment as Newsletter editor, I thought I’d add a section highlighting an Irish expression. My muse for this is Siaryn Duggan. She’s often a delight to listen to (for many reasons) and quite frequently drops, what I’ve dubbed, as a ‘Siaryn-ism”. So I’d like to enlighten you with the Siaryn-ism for December: “Gobsmacked”. It’s an expression used to say you’re ‘dumbstruck’, illustrating that your ‘Gob’ is your mouth, and that you’d ‘smack’ your mouth when you’re dumbstruck or rather “Gobsmacked!” Enjoy using this new term and amusing your non-Irish friends! Thanks Siaryn! This will be a regular feature of our Newsletter with your help. Please share any of your favorite Celtic Shopping locations with our Newsletter editor, Pat Hamilton. Send any suggestions to info@BlackHillsCelticEvents.org . Celtic Connection: 517 6th Street, Rapid City, SD 57701; 381-1500. They have jewelry, women’s clothing, trinkets, framed work. Our own members, Siaryn & John Duggan and Sally & Bill Knight operate this establishment. Dream Shoes (Bald Mountain): http://www.DreamShoes.com/ They have great sandals and shoes for both men and women. Pyramid Collection: http://www.PyramidCollection.com/ Clothing, jewelry, goblets (mail-order catalog available) Creative Irish Gifts: www.ShopIrish.com Clothing, trinkets, jewelry, caps, mugs (mail-order catalog available) Cashs of Ireland: www.cashs.com Dishes, glassware, clothing (mail-order catalog available) Shannon: www.ShopShannon.com Clothing, trinkets, glasses (mail-order catalog available) Sofi’s Stitches: http://www.sofisstitches.com/ Medieval and renaissance clothing Gael Song: http://www.gaelsong.com/ (mail-order catalog available) Celtic Croft: www.kilts-n-stuff.com Kilts, clothing, jewelry, etc (mail-order catalog available) The Celtic Shop: http://CelticShopDunedin.com This is our old friend Coleen Coble’s web site. Check out her wide assortment. The Oct 18th minutes were not available at time of publication last month, but they are now: Scottish and Irish Society of the Black Hills General Meeting October 18, 2007 Held at Celtic Connection Meeting started at 1745 by Bill Knight, President. October program: was given by Sally Knight on Halloween. Treasurer’s Report: Carole reported that SIS has $2,800 in checking after all the bills were paid. Old Business: The festival committee will meet in November concerning festival decisions and the nomination of officers. The merger of the festival with the Heritage festival has been dismissed as the person who made the suggestion is no longer employed with that particular committee. Flags and banners were discussed at the last meeting and Bill Knight will continue to check on the best prices for new ones. Senior citizens were mentioned at the last meeting as a means of helping with SIS tasks. This will be followed up by different members. Entertainment committee reports that there are enough programs through January. New Business: Pipe Band: Susan Peterson informed SIS of an endeavor to start a pipe band and also the opportunity to learn the pipes. More information at a later date. Kilt Rental: Sue also mentioned the possibility of kilt rentals via internet. She will present the link for our website. Combo idea: Bill Knight proposed combining the board meeting with the general meeting. This would require that board members start at 6:00 pm, followed by a general meeting. Motion seconded by Mark. To start next month. New Meeting Location: Sally suggested that members meet at the Celtic Connection for meetings. Seconded by Susan. Vote was YES. Hogmanay: The Black Hills Symphony Orchestra will be doing a celtic theme again this year and has asked SIS to manage the Hogmanay. Unanimous vote of YES. A house party for Hogmanay was also suggested either before or after the Civic Center’s Hogmanay. Election committee has 2 board member openings. Standing Business: Fund raiser ideas are needed, as well as new ideas to attract members. Website—no changes. Storage was offered by Celtic Connection for SIS’s items: Carole will check into a refund from storage unit company. Program for November will be about the Basks, by John Burke. Meeting adjourned at 2050. November 15th minutes not available at the time of publication. November 15th minutes not available at the time of publication. President Bill Knight info@BlackHillsCelticEvents.org Vice President John Burke Secretary Heather Payden (Sally Knight, co-secretary) Treasurer Carole Conrad Board Members Aliyah Sanders, Kerry Smith, Jim Byrne, James Marrs, Paul Smith Past President Gary Hamilton Membership Sally Knight Web Site Gary Hamilton Newsletter Pat Hamilton, info@BlackHillsCelticEvents.org If you would like to contribute an article or story, list an event, submit a photo, etc. to the newsletter, please email the item to me by the 5th of each month. to our Festival sponsors For your Support! Rapid City Journal Hayman and Associates Pennington Title M & K Knifeworks MAC Construction The Exchange Club of Rapid City Elks Theatre Scull Construction Telco Federal Credit Union String Thaw (Traditional Irish music) Horizons, Inc. We appreciate all the Support of all of our vendors in making this Festival a SUCCESS!!! Hope to see you NEXT year too! 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