ARIZONA IRISH MUSIC SOCIETY

AIMS NEWS AND NOTES

1. Out and About
AIMS News and Notes 1-17-2006
Arizona Irish Music Society
www.azirishmusic.com
Information Line: 602-770-8077
Signup - signup@azirishmusic.com
George L. O’Brien - george@azirishmusic.com
News - news@azirishmusic.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Out and About

--- Chieftains in Mesa on Tue and Tucson on Wed
--- Sad News Jim Marquardt Passes Away
--- Happy News From Len Rheaume

2. ICC News
--- Heritage Pledge Drive Kick Off
--- Fri, Jan 19 - Third Friday Ceili
--- Fri, Jan 26 - Using The Internet To Find Your Family History
--- Fri., Feb 9 - Waiting For Beckett: A Centenary Celebration
3. Memo From Hugh Lehane
4. Memo From The Rakes
5. Contradance News
6. Looking For A Bands On Mar 17
7. Letter From Vash
8. This Week In Irish Music

--- SAD NEWS JIM MARQUARDT PASSES AWAY

George,

[ Would it be possible to prevail on you to spread this information through the Irish community by way of your newsletter next week? Thank you in advance. Sincerely, Char Marquardt.]

I'm deeply saddened to announce that Jim Marquardt passed away this morning. I just got off the phone with their son Dave, who asked me to pass along this bad news.  

Services will be on at 9:00am, Friday, Jan 19 at Shadow Mountain Mortuary. Burial will be at 10:30 at the VA Cemetery. Here are the addresses:  

Shadow Mountain Mortuary
2350 East Greenway Road
Phoenix, AZ 85022  

VA Cemetery
23029 N Cave Creek Rd
Phoenix, AZ 85024-7500
(At Cave Creek Rd and Pinnacle Peak)  

Jim has been a close friend and a wonderful, integral part of our community. We are all going to miss him deeply.  

If there is anyone I left off of this list, please notify them and accept my apologies for the omission.  

Brian Harris
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--- HAPPY NEWS

Dear Family and Friends;  

I had my follow-up Doctors appointment this morning after my last round of cancer treatments last September.

The results of the blood work indicates that they believe they got all the cancer this time.  I will continue with my regular 90 day follow up checks.

Diane and I want to thank everyone for their healing prayers.  I know I will continue my prayers of praise and thankfulness for all my blessings, especially for you my friends and family.    

Thankfully yours
LEONARD RHEAUME
lrheaume@msn.com

2. ICC NEWS

--- HERITAGE PLEDGE DRIVE KICK OFF

Each year, The Irish Cultural Center in Phoenix looks for different ways to keep operating revenue flowing. Do you need a Tax write off for 2006? PLEASE remember The Center is a 501c3 not for profit organization, we would be very appreciative if you would remember us this Season. Start the New Year off with our new program "The Heritage Pledge.

Please note the button labeled DONATE NOW (https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?aid=5194), under the logo on the left, it is a secure site. For each monthly donation in $10 increments pledged over a one year period of time, the person making the pledge will receive a number. In October at the Irish Festival a number will be drawn. The chosen recipient can submit an ancestral picture, a picture of the ancestral home or a family portrait and from this they will receive a gift from an artist in Ireland.

--- FRI, JAN 19 - THIRD FRIDAY CEILI

The Center's Third Friday Ceili is coming up gang. Time to lace up those shoes and show off your moves. This is the day you have been practicing for. Admission is still on $6 per person. Children under 12 are free (2 with each paid admission). The Ceili starts at 7PM.

--- FRI, JAN 26 - USING THE INTERNET TO FIND YOUR FAMILY HISTORY

The Center, is proud to host Using the Internet to Find Your Family History , Friday, Jan 26, 2007 at 7:30 PM. Admission is $5. Local Genealogist and Family Historian, Delite Gaddie, will teach you the basics of Internet research and will be on hand to help you solve some of your family history mysteries.

Mrs. Gaddie began doing genealogical research at age eighteen. She has spent thousands of hours doing research on her husband's lines, taking his Gaddie line back eleven generations to Scotland . Mrs. Gaddie became an Accredited Genealogist in 1990 and has been repeatedly hired by families of Mesa to do research on their lines.

Mrs. Gaddie was also an Arizona Certified Confidential Intermediary (CCI) which allows allowed access to sealed records of adoptions done in Arizona . “In this program, authorized by the Arizona Supreme Court, I trained other CCIs. I successfully solved cases reuniting over sixty adoptees and their birth parents,” Mrs. Gaddie writes.

Mrs. Gaddie served a one year family history mission at the Family History Center in Mesa in 1985. She has taught family history classes for the past eleven years.

She has done research in dozens of county courthouses, the Family History Library in Salt Lake City , the Cambridge Library in England and many county and state historical libraries. She has donated services at the Highland Scottish Games and the Irish Festival.

Even if you are a seasoned family historian, a new researcher or just curious about family history, this is the workshop for you!

--- FRI., FEB 9 - WAITING FOR BECKETT: A CENTENARY CELEBRATION

Friday, February 9, 2007, the Center is home to a unique celebration of Samuel Beckett's 100th birthday. The program begins at 7:30 PM, and the cost is only $5.00.

Samuel Beckett-Nobel laureate, icon of the avant-garde, and Irishman-wasn't big on birthdays. Even after his death, there remained some question with his biographers about the precise date of the writer's entrance into the world. While Beckett acknowledged his birthday as 13 April 1906, pleased no doubt by the ironic coincidence of Friday the 13th and Good Friday, his birth certificate marks the date as 13 May 1906. Perhaps this confusion helps to explain his fascination with a lecture by Carl Jung on the subject of "the never properly born," which the young Irishman attended in the mid-thirties. He liked to think of himself that way, never properly born, so it is all the more fitting to celebrate the centenary of his birth just a bit late. Beckett is, after all, famous for making us wait.

Come celebrate the life and work of the author of Waiting for Godot with a screening of that landmark play, preceded by a brief lecture from Dr. Patrick Bixby on Beckett's oft-overlooked Irishness. Although Beckett left Ireland all-but-for-good in the 1930s, and although his career first flourished in the artistic circles of Paris , his literary imagination never strayed far from his native land. The centenary is an apt occasion to remember his insistent attention to things Irish, from the landscapes of his writing to his eccentric Hibernian characters to the particular lilt of their language.

Patrick Bixby is Assistant Professor of British Literature at ASU at the West Campus and Consultant to the Editors of The Correspondence of Samuel Beckett, a four volume collection of Beckett's letters due from Cambridge University Press beginning in 2007.

3. MEMO FROM HUGH LEHANE

Hello George,  

Hugh Lehane here, Irish musician from California. How are you doing ? I see there's a lot of big Irish events happening in Arizona over the next few months, you must be excited!  

I am playing this weekend at the Auld Dubliner in Tucson Thursday 18th, Friday 19th and Saturday 20th.

I was hoping you might be able to include the dates in your weekly calendar.  

Thanks George,
I appreciate it.  

Hugh Lehane
Hughlehane@aol.com
(714) 865 3267

4. MEMO FROM THE RAKES

George,

When You Get A Chance Could You Update The Directory Info For The Rakes To Include

Tommy Grills Vocals,Guitar
Malcom Harris Vocals Guitar
Jonothan Miller Fiddle,Vocals Mandolin

Also Update Night Shift To Include

Chief Schabuttie Gilliame
Tommy Grills Guitar
Paul Townsend Bass
Dave Ross Drums
Rich Arnold Sax

The Rakes are booked at Celtic Crossings, on Jan 27th (8-12) for their opening weekend.

We will be appearing St Pattys Day weekend Fri 3/16,Sat 3/17 (8-12 ) At Hooligans, Whiskey Row Prescott

Also Night shift will be at Hooligans Feb 16,17 8-12am, I will be doing Irish and Blues w/ the Chief.

Contact Tommy Grills @ 602 487 6050 For Bookings And Info

Jonothan Miller will be playing with us at that date and all the O'Connors' dates. Billy Brett will be filling in for Jonothan march 2nd at Celtic Crossings

Take care

Thomas Grills
Thomas.Grills@landsberg.com

5. CONTRADANCE NEWS

Dear Phoenix & AZ Contra Dancers,

Bill & Judy Norman want to share with you their 10th Wedding Anniversary with a contra dance weekend of five exciting contra dances. Four of the dances will be held at the Backyard Dance Floor located at the Norman residence at 7437 W. Acoma Dr., Peoria, AZ  85381. One of the dances will be held at Kenilworth School this Saturday evening. See below for details. To view the Bill & Judy flyer  with information regarding the dances held in Peoria go to this link: http://pfotm.org/danceflyers.html  One may also call Judy Norman at 623.979.4875 for additional info.

2nd Sat, Jan 13th Contra Dance at Kenilworth School
Caller/Band:    Richard Wilson from NM with music by the Crustaceans from Flagstaff, AZ
Location: 1210 N. 5th Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85003, map:
 http://www.pfotm.org/kenilworthmap.html
Time:   7:30 – 10:30 pm with a free lesson at 7:00 pm
Cost:   $7 for PFOTM Members/Students, $9 for Public; $3 for Dancers under 18 years (includes childcare)
Note:   Read our Kenilworth Shoe Policy at http://www.pfotm.org/shoepolicy.html    

4th Wed, Jan 24th Contra Dance at the Irish Cultural Center
Caller/Band:    Seth Levine from Phoenix with music by the PFOTM Open Band
Location:   1106 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85004, map:
 http://www.pfotm.org/irishmap.html
Time:   7:30 – 10:00 pm (No Lesson)
Cost:   $7 all dancers
Note:   Snacks provided by dancers. Parents are responsible for childcare.

Future Special Dances/Events to Place On Your Calendar! (Go to:
http://pfotm.org/danceflyers.html to view dance information flyers)

02/02/07 “Peg's Belated Birthday Tour” Caller Peg Hesley with music by Atlantic Crossing from CA. At the Grace Sparkes Activity Center in
                   Prescott, AZ. Time: 8:00 – 11:00 pm

02/03/07 “Peg's Belated Birthday Tour” Caller Peg Hesley with music by Atlantic Crossing from CA. At the First United Methodist Church in
                   Tucson, AZ. Time: 8:00 – 11:00 pm

02/04/07 “Peg's Belated Birthday Tour” Caller Peg Hesley with music by Atlantic Crossing from CA. At the Norman Backyard Dance Floor                    located at 7437 W. Acoma Drive, Peoria, AZ 85381. Time: 12:30 – 3:30 pm

02/17/07 “9th Annual Fiesta of Friends Jamboree” Contra & Traditional Square Dance. Caller Peg Hesley with music by Round The House.                    At Cortez High School, 8828 N. 31st Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85051. Time: 8:00 – 10:30 pm

03/10-11/07 “Dance-Wich Delirium” AZ Caller Peg Hesley & International Caller Kathy Anderson team up for an High Energy Weekend in                        Phoenix. (What is a “Dance-Wich?” Ans. A regular PFOTM 2nd Sat Dance sandwiched in between two challenging, zesty                         contra dances!) The bands will be ClusterFolk of Phoenix and Updraft from Flagstaff. Keep an eye out for information flyers at your                         regular AZ contra dance.

Questions ?
Contact Joe at phoenixcontradancer@cox.net or call 602.564.6620 Info: http://www.pfotm.org
See you on the Dance Floor,
Joe Hesley

6. LOOKING FOR A BANDS ON MAR 17

[EDITOR’S NOTE: People looking for bands and bands looking for gigs are encouraged to e-mail me at news@azirishmusic.com]

--- LOOKING FOR A BAND FOR PRIVATE PARTY IN SCOTTSDALE

Hi George,  

I was hoping you may be able to help me.  We are having our 13th annual St. Patrick’s Day party at our home.  We typically have our party the Sat night either before or after St. Patrick’s Day, however, this year (as you know) St. Patrick’s Day falls on a SAT NIGHT.  We have not been able to secure a musical group since everyone is likely booked.  

Our party typically runs from 7 – 11 and will be March 17th, 2007 and we are located in Scottsdale.  The last couple of years we’ve had Oceans Apart, prior to that Michael Donovan and others (including Keltic Cowboys) prior to that.  

Do you know of someone who might be still available?  Possibly someone who is newer in the business or is not already snatched up by the local pubs?  

I spoke to John Goode and he suggested that I contact you since you had the “pulse” on who’s doing what in Phoenix.  

Any assistance you can provide would be most appreciated!  

Suzanne Sikora
(480) 614-1481

---- LOOKING FOR A BAND FOR PRIVATE PARTY IN PHOENIX

George,

We are looking for a band for a private St. Paddy's Day Party.  He told me to get in touch with you.  It is on the rooftop of a residential high-rise so only a small group would be appropriate.  The party is on the night of March 17th, and I was thinking music from 7 until 11 pm.  Let me know if it is at all possible.  Thank you for your time in advance.  You can reach me by e-mail or phone.  

Barbi Neary
602-377-3322 cell
602-254-3512 home
bneary@cox.net

7. LETTER FROM VASH

Greetings friends and fans, My band Circled by Hounds is pleased and proud to officially announce the launch of our very first, very own website! www.circledbyhounds.com is your one stop shop for all things CBH! On the new site you’ll find news, music, reviews, pictures, schedule, contact and booking info, it’s all here in one easy to use package!

The site has been expertly designed and built by Chris Boydston of Desert Druid Web Design of Tempe Arizona, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the result. Chris has created for us a very slick and user friendly and interactive website. We highly recommend him if you are looking for a web designer.

So we invite you to drop by, bookmark the site, join our mailing list, link back to us and check back for updates often be the first on your block to know when and where we’re playing, what cool new stuff we have for you and what’s going on with the band.

As always we thank you for listening, for checking out the page and for your continued support.

Vash
Circled by Hounds
bodhranai@hotmail.com

8. THIS WEEK IN IRISH MUSIC

PHOENIX

Michael McClanathan Will Be At The Westin Kirland Every Evening At Sunset.

WED

Paul Knight will be at into The Bean on Wed.
Scott Jeffers will be at into The Dubliner on Wed.
Oceans Apart will be Pueblo El Mirage on Wed

FRI/SAT

There will be a ceili at the ICC on Fri.

Feis in the Desert will be at the San Marcos Hotel on Fri, Sat, and Sun.

The Mesa Robert Burns Night will be at the Fiesta Inn Resort on Sat

The Dubliner will host No Excuses on Fri and Sat.

O’Carroll’s Gate will be at O’Connor’s on Fri and Sat

Brazen Heads will be at Rosie McCaffrey’s on Fri and Sat

Shawn Johnson will be at Rula Bula on Fri and Sat

The Dan McGuiness Duo is expected to play at Seamus McCaffrey’s on Fri and Sat

TUCSON

Hugh Lehane will be at the Auld Dubliner Thur, Fri, and Sat

The Tucson Robert Burns Dinner will be at the InnSuites Hotel on Sat