PO Box 765, Rapid CitySD57709
BlackHillsCelticEvents.org
605-399-7203
Volume 7 Issue 12 December 2005
Fun, Food, Stories at December 15th S.I.S. Meeting
Everyone is invited to bring some Christmas cookies and stories of their
family traditions at Christmas time. It will be a relaxing and enjoyable
way for you to spend an evening! We’ll also be finalizing our plans for
the Hogmanay on 12/31/05 and the Robert Burns Dinner on January 28.
New Years Hogmanay celebration!!
Approximately10:30 p.m., Saturday, December 31, 2005,
at theRushmorePlaza Civic Center
Bring your DANCING SHOES!!
ACeltic New Years Celebration and Hogmanay Ceilidh will be held after the Symphony’s Celtic Concert.
Dancers from the Symphony performance will be demonstrating and teaching dances. We will be joined by other musicians (Kenny Putnam, a renowned fiddle player)from the symphony performance as well as String Thaw.As with ANY Ceilidh celebration, all musicians are welcome. Tickets are not necessary. There is a suggested donation of $5 at the door. The S.I.S. will be providing food for a fund raiser and welcome any assistance. Please call Pat Hamilton at 719-8018 if you can help cook or bake prior to the event or help at the event. This will be wonderful time for all!
S.I.S. Web Site
Robert Millican has done an AWESOME job on our Society Website:
.
Be sure to check it out! Wonderful photos, great information, fun & colorful presentation!
KUDOS & many thanks to you Robert!!!!!
Celtic Christmas Service
Join this church service as they celebrate the birth of Christ
with fiddles, flutes, jigs, and reels.
Refer to the graphic toward the end of the newsletter.
WATCH FOR YOUR S.I.S. MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS!
We don’t want you to miss out on any of the exciting activities coming up!
TWO NEW BOARD MEMBERS ELECTED:
Jim Byrne and Kerry Smith were elected to the board at the November membership meeting to serve the balance of two vacant terms. Thank you so much for agreeing to serve. See later in the newsletter for their biographies.
December 15 / 7:00 p.m. / General membership Meeting, TREA* Building, Rapid City; Program: Celtic Christmas traditions & historyDecember 25 / 10:00 a.m. / Celtic Christmas Service, FirstUnitedMethodistChurch, 629 Kansas City St, Rapid City (refer to info later in the newsletter)
December 31 / Approximately 10:30 p.m. –
12:30 a.m. / Celtic New Years Celebration and Hogmanay Ceilidh after the Symphony’s Celtic Concert at the RushmorePlazaCivicCenter. Suggested donation of $5/person.
January 5 / Board Meeting, TREA* Building, Rapid City
January 19 / 7:00 p.m. / General membership Meeting, TREA* Building, Rapid City
Program: Importance of Robert Burns in Celtic history
January 28 / 6:00 p.m. / Robert Burns Dinner, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Rapid City
March 18 / 6:00 p.m. / St Patrick’s Day Dinner, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Rapid City
To be announced / Rummage Sale
*TREA = The Retired Enlisted Association building, 1981 East Centre Street, Rapid City
2005 was filled with triumph and trepidation but the SIS continued to move ahead and look forward to the future. This Christmas season promised and promises to bring us great Celtic fun, food, and music that began with Martinmas, and all who attended had a great time. The music was excellent and the dancing, though not skillful, was fun and we are getting better! The program for the general meeting on December 15 will be a cookie event with the members bringing some favorite holiday treats along with some past Christmas memories. Hopefully everyone will be willing to share and if we are really lucky someone may bring some Celtic Christmas music (cd’s) to lift our Christmas spirit.
December 31 brings the symphony presenting a Celtic concert with the Hogmanay to follow. SIS has been asked to decorate the stage area and provide food. The lobby area will be decorated by Charlie Weir of Dakota Celtic Society so between the two of us the CivicCenter Theater should be spectacularly Celtic to welcome in 2006. We will need help from our members to put on this event, so if you can just let me or Pat Hamilton know at the general meeting or e-mail us. More details about the Hogmanay will be posted in the newsletter.
Never lacking for a good time brings us to the Burns dinner on January 28. This gala is always a wonderful, joyous time full of good food, fellowship, friendship and just plain fun. I passed around a sign-up sheet for the various positions where help will be needed, but there is always room for more and the dinner will be discussed in more detail at the December general meeting. Please keep in mind some menu ideas or suggestions to be presented at the meeting. After all, this is your event and we would like your input.
Election, election, election. I cannot stress the importance of the upcoming elections enough. They are vital to the future of S.I.S. We have a tremendous opportunity to turn another corner, take another step, and continue on into the future to live, present, and preserve our Celtic heritage. How we do this is only limited by our imaginations. There is a wealth of knowledge and ideas out there amongst our members and we only need to pursue these ideas to continue to have a successful, educational, and fun society. Please be a part of this process by participating in the nominating process, running for office and certainly by voting.
All that being said, I just want to take the time to say that this past year has been more than a challenge for SIS and at times looked discouraging in lieu of the many problems that took place. Sometimes we took one step forward and two steps back and yet we managed to put on all our events---some more successful than others— and still had a good time doing so. To me this speaks volumes of the determination, courage and diversity the members of this society have shown and I am confident that S.I.S. will continue to prosper and thrive throughout the years. Not only should we be proud of our celebrated Celtic heritage, but be proud of ourselves. We are now better, stronger and more confident that ever before and I look forward to continue to be a part of and to work with this outstanding group of people. From my family to yours, merry Christmas and happy New Year!
Bill Knight
Interim President
Kerry Smith and Jim Byrne are serving the remainder of the terms from the two board members who resigned until the next election. THANKS SO MUCH FOR SERVING!!!!!
Kerry Smith was born in Atlanta, GA to John B. Smith who is of Scottish decent
and Joan C. Smith who is of Irish decent. He moved to California in the early
1960’s and stayed until 1971 when he moved to Greenville, S.D. to attend School.
He then moved to Conway, S.C. to work for a Crane Manufacturer until 1980.
Kerry then moved to Columbia, S.D. to be closer to family and worked many jobs
from a local bank to cab driving. In 1998, he moved to Sundance Wyoming to
work for Teen Challenge. Then in 2002 he went to work for CrookCountyHospital doing Courier work where he got involved with the Scottish Irish Society. Kerry is married to Pat Smith of Greenwood, S.C. and has two daughters, Victoria and Katrina.
Jim Byrne has been a member of the Scottish Irish Society for two years. A
resident of Rapid City for 18 years, he was born and grew up in southeastern
Minnesota. Jim is a general dentist and has a fourteen year-old son, Brian.
Jim’s Celtic connection is his 100% Irish ancestry. His mother’s maiden name
was Mahoney. The Mahoney’s claim descent from Mathghamain (Gaelic for
‘bear’) the grandson of Brain Boru.
Due to a computer glitch, minutes are not available at this time and will be shared later.
Unfinished business: Hogmanay will be held at the CivicCenter. Burn’s dinner will be at the Episcopal Church. Trish Taylor is our new contact person.
New Business: Several ideas were exchanged for food sales at the Hogmanay. Ideas will be discussed at the next general meeting. S.I.S. will be decorating the stage area, and the Black Hills Celtic Shop will be decorating the front lobby. The Dahl Fine Arts center will advertise the Burns dinner. Aliyah will design the poster. Ticket sales will be through the Dahl, on line, or through members.
PresidentVacant
Vice PresidentBill Knight (Interim President)
SecretarySally Knight
TreasurerCarole Conrad
Board MembersGary Hamilton, Midge Schmidt, Aliyah Sanders, Kerry Smith, Jim Byrne
MembershipOpen
Web SiteRobert Millican & Pat Hamilton
NewsletterPat Hamilton,
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.
C:\Documents and Settings\Gary\My Documents\SIS\Newsletter 12-2005.doc1