NACHS
Newsletter
The
Web
Address: www.nachs.info
October 2006
As you know, NACHS is always cooking up plans and ideas for
various events we want to be involved in. As always, we need and welcome
volunteers to help with the educational outreach by greeting people and showing
them our wares. We will provide tickets for you to get into the events (on a
first come-first serve basis for the number of volunteers needed) if you
volunteer at least three hours. Please contact Jude (at 928-556-3161) if you
want to volunteer some time to help at the following events:
·
·
·
NAU International Week Celebration:
Nov. 4, NAU campus,
For more info on these events, read on!
Don't Forget: Location change for NACHS
meetings!
Because the Adult Center is under construction we will have our
monthly meeting on the first Tuesday from 6pm to 8pm at McPherson Therapeutic
Recreation Center, McPherson Park, 1650 N. Turquoise, by the ice rink. The
building is between the playground and the tennis courts - park on the left
side of the ice rink to access the building.
A Balvenie
Moment at Our Festival
A photograph of athlete Brent Abbott, along with Dave McNabb, was recently posted in the "Balvenie Moments"
section of the Balvenie Single Malt Scotch website. Devotees of the whisky were asked to submit a photo showing a special time. Brent's
caption read: Winning the Flagstaff Highland Games and
sipping Balvenie in sweet victory.
Greeting from
the Editor!
Well, I'm back from my summer
archaeology adventures - WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! The photo is of The Giant's Tomb
in Errigal Truagh, Co.
Monaghan, near one of the sites where I worked. Over the next few months I'll tell you about my adventures in
6th Annual
The Sixth
Annual Arizona Irish Festival is coming to the
The traditional
stone buildings at the Center, including a replica of a
Those seeking
their Irish roots can consult a knowledgeable genealogist. Adults and children
are welcome to wear Halloween costumes in celebration of the October 31st holiday that once marked the end of summer for the
ancient Celts.
A silent
auction will offer unique prizes to the bold bidder with good timing, and the
winner of the raffle at the end of the day will find tickets to
The Arizona
Irish Festival is directed by members of E.R.I.N. (Executive Resources for
Irish Networking) in association with the Irish Cultural and Learning
Foundation, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporation. All
proceeds of the Festival will benefit the
For more
information about the 6th Annual Arizona Irish
Festival, please contact Jacqueline Carro,
480/495-8924.
PARTY with Bad Haggis!
On Saturday,
October 28, get ready to party with Bad Haggis! The *visionary, rocking, cutting-edge
Celtic meets grooving, jazzy, world fusion music* band will perform on festival
day on the Pub Stage! Like the namesake dish that one fan described as *a bag
of sinister byproducts wrapped in a dubious membrane made possible by generous
animal organ donors,* Eric Rigler and Bad Haggis are
an unexpected combination of instruments, musical styles and personalities. A
high-energy band in live concerts as well as on recordings, Bad Haggis delivers
original material with a sonic twist and infectious good humor, consistently
bringing audiences to their feet.
Want
a sneak peek at what they have to offer? Come to Rula Bula,
Celtic Spring to perform at the Irish
Festival
“America*s Got
Talent” finalist, Celtic Spring, is an exciting and unique fiddle and dance
band composed of the five Wood family children on fiddles and in dance shoes,
joined by their father on the traditional Irish drum, the bodhran. The band’s
awe-inspiring performances feature a rich variety of music from the Celtic
lands and beyond, including original compositions in unique arrangements that
range in expression from lyrical beauty to dance tempo exuberance.
Celtic Spring
will perform on the Traditional Stage at
Celtic Music
in
Gerry O'Beirne (formerly of
Dervish
On tour from
4 Shillings Short
4 Shillings Short, on tour from northern
For info on the above events, call Dave McNabb at 928/771-1218.[EDITOR'S NOTE: Dervish will also be performing at the
Cline Library, NAU,
In other parts of
Celtic Guitarist Christopher Dean
Enjoy an evening of Celtic and American folk music performed on fingerstyle and flatpick guitar
by internationally recognized Celtic guitarist Christopher Dean.
Not just a gifted exponent of Celtic music, Chris tells engaging
and humorous stories, and weaves Celtic lore and history with his music - the
familiar trinity of jigs and reels - haunting airs that take you far away to a
land of the imagination - and laments that evoke past glory.
Starting a professional career in music in 1966, Chris has
performed at concert venues with The Rolling Stones, The Rascals, The Doors,
and more recently with Alasdair Fraser, Men of Worth, The Wicked Tinkers, Brian
Baynes, and Skyedance, to
name a few.
Chris' third album, "Celtic Journey", was released in January '06 to rave reviews. All three of
his albums have been sold world wide, receiving radio
play in
11/1, Wed, 7pm, Palm Creek Golf & RV Resort, 1110 N. Henness Rd., Casa Grande. Tickets&Info:
520/876-8980.
11/6, Mon,
11/14, Tues,
For sound clips and more, visit:
www.cairneyhill.com.
The fourth term of the
In addition, the 2nd Saturday of most months, the academy offers
Ceilidh dance lessons, a 2 hour dance-intensive
workshop, geared towards both beginning and advanced dancers of all ages. Cost
is $16 for adults and $2 for children under 12.
For a list of classes and to register, email academy@azirish.org
or call
602/254-6094.
Wanted: Pipers and
Drummers
Interested in learning to play bagpipes and
belonging to a small local pipe band? Call us! All levels of skill welcome and
lessons are free!
Jim Thomson 928-522-8797.
Celtic Music radio program
on KJZA 89.5 FM
- Hosted by NACH's own David McNabb
- Live on Saturdays,
- Broadcast repeated on Sundays,
The Red-Headed
Stranger...A True Story
by Donzetta O'Dunn
One evening a friend and I were returning from the pub …
seriously, I had gone to do my laundry and only had a 1/2 pint of Brains.
(Which sounds absolutely disgusting, except “Brains”
is the name of a popular ale in
I saw both of them the next morning and asked if either of them
was the person Will and I startled the night before. “Too exhausted to stay
up,” said Aaron, “I turned in early.” “Me, too,” said
Becca, “It was a hard day - I was wiped out.” Now, I
was REALLY curious.
Later that day I walked back out to the spot where we saw the red-headed stranger - the incident happened so quickly
neither of us could tell whether it was a man or woman. What I found amazed me
and made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. There were the bushes that
the person had jumped into, but to my total surprise when I pulled them aside I
stood facing a solid wall of rock and dirt that went straight up about 10 feet.
There were only a couple of feet between the edge of the road and the wall and spiderwebs hung undisturbed on the wall face.
I looked up and down the road. Could I have the wrong spot? No,
it was just at the corner before the campsite, plus
the ledge ran half-way down the hill. There was no place for any living human
being to jump off the road and hide from someone passing by. It was impossible.
So who - or what - had Will and I seen?
Perhaps the colorfully clothed red-headed person was
one of the former inhabitants of the ancient sites we were now excavating at Castell Henllys. An Iron Age druid? A British-Romano
noblewoman? Or, maybe it was one of the local
fairy folk off on a
Directory of Celtic
Arts
For Lessons:
|
Bagpipe, |
Denise
Robinson: 928.443.5191 (New!) |
|
Bagpipe and Drums, |
Jim Thomson:
928.522.8797 |
|
Bodhran |
Ron Barton:
928.774.7261 |
|
Fiddle |
Kari Barton: 928.600.1365 |
|
Harp |
Laurie Riley:
928.204.0013 |
|
|
Jim Thomson:
928.522.8797 |
|
Irish Dance |
Sharon Judd:
602.253.1978 |
For Performance
and Music:
|
AZ Highlanders Pipe
Band, or to hire bagpipers |
Jim Thomson: 928.522.8797 |
|
Bagpiping in Cottonwood/Verde Valley area |
Lloyd McCaffery:
928.634.3672 |
|
The Knockabouts |
John McGregor:
928.863.0188 |
|
Celtic Harp |
Laurie Riley: 928.204.0013 |
|
Wild Thyme |
Sherri Bermeister: 928.636.1207 |
Mark
Your Calendars – July 21 & 22, 2007
This year’s Annual Arizona Highland Celtic Festival was such a
success that we are already gearing up for our 10th anniversary (can you
believe it) on July 21 & 22, 2007. (as always)
need volunteers to be in charge of some critical areas
·
Gate managers
·
Pub managers
·
Soda sales manager
·
Workshop manager
·
Educational Outreach Program manager
·
Membership manager
·
Set up and take down help
Please contact Jude at 928-556-3161, if you have a desire to
take a more active roll in putting on the festival. Some of these jobs require
very little time, apart from the weekend of the event. As has been said many
times before, THIS EVENT WOULD NOT HAPPEN, IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE VOLUNTEERS.
A Bit of Halloween Humor... “Ghost”
Two
men were walking home after a Halloween party and decided to take a shortcut
through the cemetery just for laughs. Right in the middle of the cemetery
they were startled by a tap-tap-tapping noise coming from the misty shadows.
Trembling with fear, they found an old man with a hammer and chisel, chipping
away at one of the headstones.
"Holy cow,
Mister," one of them said after catching his breath, "You scared us
half to death -- we thought you were a ghost! What are you doing working here
so late at night?"
"Those
fools!" the old man grumbled. "They misspelled my name!"
Tucson
Celtic Festival & Scottish Highland Games
20th Annual
4502
N.
$12 Adults
($10 if you bring Canned Tuna
&/or Peanut Butter
Donation
for Community Food Bank)
FREE*
For Children
*Under
13 Years Old!
(Up to 5 per Adult)
Special Friday Evening Event,
November 3
Catered Celtic Dinner
On the Field
$20 per Person
Purchase Tickets by Oct. 27
Torchlight Clan
Ceremony
followed
by a CEILIDH!
$5 per Person
Tickets purchased in advance
or then
Celtic Societies &
Organizations
Entertainment on Two Stages
all Day
Traditional Celtic Dress &
Customs
Family Heritage & Clans
Dancers, Singers, Workshops
Celtic Merchants & Food
Vendors
Historic Re-Enactment Groups
First Annual Celtic Music
Competition
Kids Corner with Plays, Games & Crafts
Kids Athletic Competition
Storytelling & Local
Authors
Scottish Highland Dance
Competition
Bagpipe & Drum Bands
Sheepherding Demonstrations
Celtic Brews & Libation
www.tucsoncelticfestival.org
Buy Advance Tickets On-Line!
954-9411 Call with
Questions 807-9509
The
&
Glenfiddich 21 year old
Present a
Contest
Saturday Uptown Billiards
Details:
·
Competitors must wear a kilt – if you don’t
have one, use one of ours!
·
What’s worn under the kilt must be family-friendly and in good
taste
·
Everyone’s a winner ~ the fun is in competing
Why:
We are
celebrating the introduction of Glenfiddich’s newest
single malt ~ the 21 year old GRAN
RESERVA CARIBBEAN RUM FINISH. Come experience how gentle island spices
influence the character of 21 years of Scottish Highland aging.